On the occasion of the 200th anniversary of Illinois’ statehood, I have been asked to provide a remembrance of an Illinois hero. A hero is a person who is admired or idealized for courage, outstanding achievements or noble qualities.My hero is not a distant historical figure that I might admire in the abstract, but someone whose presence as a leader in the legal profession was real and tangible to a young woman lawyer who graduated from law school only 15 years after she did. I do not have to idealize my hero, Mary …