The family of former U.S. Sen. William Proxmire, 87, for decades a legendary Wisconsin public figure, invited a Milwaukee reporter to visit him in a long-term care facility near Baltimore where he is living in what it describes as the "fog-shrouded twilight" of Alzheimer's.

Proxmire, who served 31 years in the Senate and was author of "Your Joyride to Health" and "You Can Do It! Senator Proxmire's Exercise, Diet and Relaxation Plan,"disclosed publicly almost five years ago that he had Alzheimer's.

Today, a year-and-a-half after Proxmire was placed in the Copper Ridge facility in Sykesville, MD, the reporter found him "oblivious to many chapters of his life, notably his Senate years from 1957 to 1989," and said he can rarely identify his loved ones when they visit.

The reporter recalls that Proxmire, son of a physician, was "a poster child for health and fitness," who jogged the roughly 5-mile route from his Washington residence to the Capitol rain or shine.

"You keep reading that if you eat properly and exercise a lot and go to bed early and don't drink and don't smoke -- I mean, Bill was the most disciplined individual you could ever find," his wife Ellen said. "If you could design a surefire, healthy regime, it was him. And it didn't keep him from getting this."

Other sources: Milwaukee Journal-Sentinel