Constitutional law was Baldwin’s passion
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With a legal mind far sharper than the crease in his often-rumpled pants, Gordon Baldwin became the go-to person for questions on constitutional law. That was true with everyone from state officials to reporters. “I met him when I was in the Legislature,” said Tommy G. Thompson, speaking of the days before he served as governor. “When a question came up on the constitution - Wisconsin or the country’s - my first information source was always Professor Baldwin. He was like a walking encyclopedia.” Baldwin, who had cancer, died in his sleep Saturday while in Italy. He was 77. He and his wife had attended an opera the evening before. In a University of Wisconsin - Madison news release, law professor Stewart Macaulay recalled that Baldwin didn’t want to talk much about his cancer. “He did say that he might have to have chemotherapy,” Macaulay said. “Then he said, ‘And you know, I’ve heard it might make your hair fall out.’ “Pure Gordon,” Macaulay said of his balding friend. A native of Binghamton, N.Y., Baldwin later grew up in Penfield, N.Y. He graduated from high school at 16, then from Haverford College as a history and government major. In his dry and self-deprecating way, Baldwin once explained his choice of career. He planned to continue studying history and political science but switched after he discovered that a doctorate in history required further study of French and German. “Law was sort of a compromise,” he said. He went to Cornell Law School, specializing in international affairs. More : jsonline.com |