In a deeply moving announcement that stirred hearts across the country, Tucker Carlson revealed Wednesday that his father, Richard “Dick” Carlson, passed away at the age of 84. It wasn’t a flashy press release or a media spectacle—it was a powerful personal tribute from a son who clearly admired the man who raised him, shaped him, and never stopped teaching him.
“Richard Warner Carlson died at 84 on March 24, 2025 at home in Boca Grande, Florida after six weeks of illness,” the family obituary read. “He refused all painkillers to the end and left this world with dignity and clarity, holding the hands of his children with his dogs at his feet.” It was a fitting end for a man who lived life on his own terms—tough, principled, and unshakably loyal.
Born in Massachusetts on February 10, 1941, Dick Carlson’s early life was anything but easy. He spent his childhood in foster homes before being adopted. At 17, he was kicked out of school. But like so many great American stories, his setbacks only fueled his grit. He joined the U.S. Marine Corps and eventually found his way to California, where he worked as a merchant seaman before launching a distinguished career in journalism.
He rose through the ranks to become an investigative reporter and ABC News anchor, eventually serving as director of Voice of America under President Ronald Reagan. His government service took him across the globe—including a stint as U.S. Ambassador to the Seychelles—where he built relationships with world leaders and gained the kind of worldly insight that only deep experience can offer.
But beyond the impressive résumé was a man defined by conviction and character. When his wife left for Europe in 1975 and never came back, Dick Carlson became a single father of two young boys—Tucker and Buckley. He raised them with the same resolve he brought to every challenge, bringing them along on reporting trips and turning the dinner table into a classroom where subjects ranged from Bolshevik Russia to American literature.
“He was a free thinker and a compulsive book reader, including at red lights,” Tucker wrote in the obituary. “He left a library of thousands of books, most dog-eared and filled with marginalia. His reading and life experiences convinced him that God is real. He had an outlaw spirit tempered by decency.”
That “outlaw spirit” clearly rubbed off. Tucker Carlson has built a career on challenging orthodoxy, calling out hypocrisy, and refusing to play nice with a media establishment that long ago abandoned objectivity. It’s no mystery where he got his backbone.
Dick Carlson wasn’t just a journalist, or a diplomat, or a Marine. He was a dad who showed up when it mattered. A man who never bowed to political correctness. A reader, a thinker, and a believer in the truth. In an age where men are told to sit down and be quiet, Dick Carlson stood tall and spoke plainly. He lived by a code, and he passed it down.
He’s survived by his two sons, Tucker and Buckley; his daughter-in-law Susie; and five grandchildren. He was also a proud dog lover, and fittingly, his loyal companions were with him in his final moments.
Tucker Carlson’s tribute reminds us what real fatherhood looks like. It’s not just about providing—it’s about guiding. Teaching. Protecting. And in Dick Carlson’s case, doing it all while navigating a career, international diplomacy, and a media landscape that rarely rewards integrity.
We live in a culture that wants to rewrite what manhood means. But men like Dick Carlson didn’t need redefining. They were defined by their values, their grit, and their faith. America could use a few more just like him. May he rest in peace.
