Who knew Cheez Doodles were conceived of as a healthy snack alternative? Morrie Yohai, 90, inventor of the Cheez Doodle, dies

We wanted to make it as healthy as possible," he said, "so it was baked, not fried.

Morrie Yohai, the man who created Cheez Doodles, died last week at the age of 90. According to the NY Daily News, Yohai was a mystic, WW II Marine pilot and philanthropist.

After WW II, Yohai took over the reigns from his father of the Old London Melba toast factory in the Bronx.

The business was already famous for Cheese Waffles, caramel popcorn and, presumably, Melba toast but Yohai wanted something new, and inspiration hit him after stumbling across a cornmeal extruding machine. Yohai did what only comes naturally to a snack food maker and started coating the extruded cornmeal with cheese.

Yohai left his vast Cheez Doodle empire after selling it to Bordon which decided to relocate to Columbus, OH. He then started teaching the next generation of snack food entrepreneurs at the New York Institute of Technology where he eventually became the associate dean of the school of management.

As time went by, Yohai discovered vast untapped wells of spirituality within himself. He studied Torah and Jewish mysticism, later writing over 500 poems and publishing two books of poetry. Yohai also founded the New York Sephardic Jewish Film Festival.