The most notable dramatist with the closest ties to the O'Neill has to be August Wilson.

The late, great playwright developed six of his 10 dramas about the history of African-Americans in the 20th century at the O'Neill's National Playwrights Conference.

In 1987, when he won the Pulitzer Prize for "Fences," Wilson spoke to The Day about the O'Neill's impact.

"The O'Neill has meant a tremendous amount. I don't know what I'd do without it ..." he said.

"I don't think anyone writes a play that springs perfect from the typewriter. It's a process that involves a lot of people. At the O'Neill, you get input from cast members, directors ..."

Lloyd Richards, long-time artistic director of the O'Neill's National Playwrights Conference, directed many of Wilson's works at Yale Repertory Theater and then on Broadway.

It's wonderfully fitting that, in the same year that the O'Neill is receiving a Tony, a revival of Wilson's "Fences" is nominated for ten Tonys as well. Wilson died in 2005, but his work lives, gloriously, on.