I met the Emeritus Dean of FSU's School of Theatre shortly after moving to Tallahassee for college. I never took a class from "Mr. Theatre", since he stopped actively teaching before I could. He would lecture in All School meetings. I saw him do these talks with fervor and power as recently as 2006, the same year in which he came to see me in a hybrid radio theatre production of David Mamet's The Water Engine. He was my neighbor when I lived down the street in a house full of Acting majors. When I directed my first real play for the local community theatre, he gave me insightful notes after seeing it for the first time. He asked me and dozens of others to help him get a production of 110 in the Shade off the ground at any theater anywhere in town.

Dick Fallon started his career as a kid, and encouraged generations of artists to hold on to a childlike sense of wonder:

In his childhood, Fallon starred in the radio show, "Dick Armstrong, All-American Boy." Later, as a Fulbright scholar in England, he was influenced by the British repertory theater system and subsequently made it his mission to build a bridge between university theater and professional theater. In addition to establishing the conservatory here, he founded FSU outreach programs at the Jekyll Island Music Theatre in Georgia and the Burt Reynolds Institute for Theatre Training in Jupiter.

"His radio persona was his persona in life," said Thomas. "He was the great enthusiast, the can-do-anything All-American boy. And he devoted his life to making theater available to everyone."