Among the recent tributes to Frank Roberts, at left, the former longtime drama director at Arlington High School who died in August, was one from comic Dane Cook, who offered funny and touching comments at an event in Waltham on Nov. 7.

"I would have to say that Frank Roberts was one the most important people I ever will have met in my life, personally and professionally,’’ said Cook, 38, in a recent phone interview.

The 1990 AHS graduate said he was "searching for himself" when he transferred from Minuteman Tech in Lexington to Arlington after his freshman year. For more, see the story and photos in Boston Globe West, Nov. 18 >>

Sept. 22: Quiet, firm, exacting, Frank Roberts remembered