Who is Harry A. Blackmun from The Brethren: Inside the Supreme Court and what is their importance?

Blackmun, of Rochester, Minnesota was appointed by Nixon to fill the vacant Fortas seat. He graduated Phi Beta Kappa from Harvard and then attended Harvard Law School. He was in private practice for sixteen years and spent ten years representing the Mayo Clinic. Eisenhower appointed him to the Eighth Circuit. He was also a life-long friend of Burger, who he went to grade school with.