From The Editor

For many years, they shared the sidelines at Baylor Bear football and basketball games delivering the play-by-play -- George Stokes on the public address system and Frank Fallon on radio.

Their lives intermingled in many ways at Baylor, at athletic events and in the telecommunication classroom, where each taught. They had deep, mellifluous voices and they knew how to use them to greatest effect. They possessed humor and quick wits and delivered unique turns of phrase that entertained and delighted sports fans for decades.

And both were known respectfully and affectionately as the "Voice of the Baylor Bears."

George announced the games for 26 years, hanging up his microphone in 1987. Frank's formidable broadcasting career ran from 1953 until 1995, when the progression of Parkinson's disease forced him to retire.
Frank Fallon died April 30 at 73. You can read more about his life on page 19.

But the two men were far more than colleagues. They were dear friends. Three years ago -- in early July, shortly before George died -- Frank went to visit him at the hospital. George was extremely weak and his wife, Katy, who shared this story with me, remembers that he was largely unresponsive.

"Frank came to see him that day," Katy says. "I leaned over George and told him, 'This is Frank Fallon. Do you remember?' He didn't seem to understand," she says. "Frank interrupted and said, 'Let me talk to him.'"

Katy says Frank, who even then had great difficulty walking, sat in a chair next to George's bed and bent his head close to his friend's ear.

"I saw George brighten as soon as he realized it was Frank," she remembers.

Katy, who had stepped aside, could not hear what the two men shared.

Then, Frank lifted his head and looked into George's eyes. "I love you, George," he said.
"I love you," George whispered.

Baylor has lost two of its finest voices.