Former Illinois Senate President Phil Rock has died at the age of 78.
The Democrat from Oak Park served 14 years in charge of the Senate, the longest tenure in the chamber's history. He left in 1993.
In recent years, Rock published his autobiography "Nobody Calls Just To Say Hello." In an interview with the Illinois Channel, he explained that title.
"I found the higher you go in office, the more is requested of you. So that when you get a phone call, it might not be as welcoming or as cheery as a phone call used to be."
Rock was known for being tough, but fair, and his ability to work with Republicans. He listed his top accomplishment as creation of a school for hearing and visually impaired children in Glen Ellyn, which now bears his name.
