A great judge dies at a great age.

Tom Fairchild -- who served on the Wisconsin Supreme Court and the federal Court of Appeals for the 7th Circuit -- has died at the age of 94. He graduated from the University of Wisconsin Law School in 1938 (when Lloyd K. Garrison was dean).

He ran for the U.S. Senate against Joseph McCarthy in 1952. I'm reading some old NYT articles from just before the election that Fairchild lost. If you have TimesSelect, try this one, from November 2, 1952. It's mostly about McCarthy. A farmer is quoted saying "Yes, I guess almost everybody in this part of the country is for McCarthy. He's against communism -- and we're against communism. Besides, if he wasn't telling the truth they 'a' hung him long ago. He's one of the greatest Americans we've ever had." There's just a line about Fairchild, calling him "[q]uiet, unassuming, reflective."