Bernard M. Judge, one of the most influential editors in the Chicago newspaper business in the last half century and one of the last links to a bygone era of Chicago journalism, died at his Chicago home early Friday of pancreatic cancer. He was 79.
Judge was editor and publisher of the Chicago Daily Law Bulletin and its sister magazine from 1988 to 2007.
He held wide influence in the industry as a top editor of the Chicago Tribune and later the Chicago Sun-Times. He was also editor and general manager of the City News Bureau of Chicago before he joined the Law Bulletin.
Judge hired and promoted dozens of reporters and editors in at each stop in his career, including some who went on to great fame.