HERE'S HOPING HE DIED WITH A SMILE ON HIS FACE AND CHICKEN WINGS IN HIS HAND

Hooters of America Chairman Robert Brooks died Sunday at his Myrtle Beach, South Carolina home. He was 69.

Brooks and a group of Atlanta investors purchased expansion and franchise rights for the Hooters chain in 1984, the year after the first restaurant opened in Clearwater. He eventually bought majority control of the corporation and became it's chairman.

The Associated Press story quoted Hooters co-founder Ed Droste, with whom Brooks often clashed, referring to the chairman as an "entrepreneur's entrepreneur", and that Brooks "fancied himself as the World Wide Wing Commander...He was a dynasty builder."

Robert Brooks had ties to Polk County, as well. He owned the Hooters Inn, which stands next to the Hooters restaurant at U.S. 98 and I-4 in north Lakeland, as well as the USA International Speedway.

The cause of Brooks' death is unclear, and the Horry County Coroners' Office is expected to perform an autopsy today.