I am very saddened to hear that Molly Ivins died of breast cancer today. She was a terrific writer, a syndicated columnist. She wrote political essays with great humor and a very skeptical eye, and was a huge influence on me when I was in college. She was from Texas, and didn’t suffer fools gladly, and there were many political figures (including our current President) whom she listed under that category. If you want a taste of who she was read her essay about having breast cancer. It’s stellar Molly.
I met Molly at the Conference on World Affairs in 2003. There were all manners of celebrities there, and she was the only one I was nervous to meet. We were at a bar after the daily panels, and I introduced myself. She shook my hand, and in that big drawling Texas accent, said, "Honey, do you have a cigarette on ya?" Ah, no, I replied. Without hesitation she said, "Then can ya go get me some?"
I told her no, and she laughed.
There was a party every night at the conference, which was attended by writers, actors, philosophers, scientists, heads of State. We all mixed around, just enjoying being with smart people. I was overjoyed to be a part of it. I saw Molly dancing with writer Simon Hoggart, and typical of her she was having a blast:
I remember at that bar, we were talking about the Iraq war, which at the time had just "ended" with the ouster of Saddam. Molly was wondering aloud, "What if we don’t find the WMDs?", and I retorted, "Then we’ll have to make them up." Molly made a face at me, and said "That’s pretty cynical there, boy!"
I was shocked. Molly Ivins telling me I was too cynical! Wow. What an honor!
Good bye, Molly. I know I told you how much I liked your writing, and how much I loved your style. We could use a thousand more of you.
January 31st, 2007 at 8:01 pm
I have a book of hers and also enjoyed her commentaries. I knew she wouldn’t pull through but I’m sorry it was so fast. And then on the other hand, it probably wasn’t. She must have stayed home until almost the end.
It’s a shame. We can treat so many cancers but just not all of them.
January 31st, 2007 at 8:04 pm
Yep Texas lost a couple of great ladies not afraid of saying what they saw a BS as being BS. Both Molly and Ann Richards will be missed in my opinion.
January 31st, 2007 at 8:54 pm
And, yes she did have a dog named S**T — she wrote about him most movingly in one of her books (the name of which I’m spacing out right now).
Darn, I’m gonna miss Molly…
February 1st, 2007 at 6:08 am
I saw her speak at the CoWF in Boulder in ’03. Very smart, funny lady. She will be missed.
February 1st, 2007 at 7:33 am
I’m going to miss Molly. I linked to her articles often and saw her speak too. She didn’t beat around the bush (or Bush), and called it like she saw it. She also had a longtime insider view of Texas politics and wasn’t afraid of the tight political circles here (and people like Tom Delay who would often display bullying behaviour).
She was only 62…a shame.
February 1st, 2007 at 7:49 am
This is the first I’ve heard of her passing. It is truly sad she was folksy, but got it right. She is a person that makes me proud to say I’m a Texan.
February 1st, 2007 at 8:03 am
She made watching “The Ledge” a national sport. I truly sorry to get this news.
February 1st, 2007 at 9:16 am
Molly Ivins, Art Buchwald, Edward Abbey, E.R. Morrow…like so many before them since Franklin and Paine – all American practitioners of courageous, unvarnished free speech in the best traditions of the free press in this country. The fourth estate is all the poorer for their passing. And who will take their place? Are we moving rapidly toward the day when newspapers become the hired mouthpieces of their corporate owners, publishing only the uncritical pablum that is designed not to offend their advertisers or their narrowly-focused readers? Is the internet becoming the last place where we can read uncensored speech, or will the oceans of opinions both accurate and false overwhelm users eventually? Or will the current attempts to regulate the net by fearful capitalists and reactionary right-wing government hacks prevail? No matter what time we live in, it is certainly interesting.
February 1st, 2007 at 1:35 pm
“And, yes she did have a dog named S**T — she wrote about him most movingly in one of her books (the name of which I’m spacing out right now).”
‘Molly Ivins Can’t Say That, Can She?’. The only book before or since that I ever saw the writer on a talk show (David Letterman, IIRC) and went out the next day to buy her book.
Phil, you met Molly Ivins? Now I’m even more convinced you are a god. *g* I met her once, very briefly, after a talk she gave in NY. She was riotously funny, of course, but I didn’t get a good quote line out of it.
February 1st, 2007 at 1:35 pm
I posted an earlier comment that never made it here, but back in the day, when I was a fledgling science writer for the Denver Post, Molly came for a visit to the newsroom. She was funny, gracious, and to the point.
Her writing was always a breath of fresh air.
Gonna miss ya, Molly!
February 1st, 2007 at 2:36 pm
Molly opened my eyes regularly. I could believe what she said — she didn’t spin; it was always real.
Not many like Molly. The world grew a little darker when she left us.
Farewell Molly.
February 1st, 2007 at 2:51 pm
This country has lost a true patriot and hellraiser, and we are lessened by her passing. I’m just glad that I got to meet her at the Conference on World Affairs — spending 30 minutes in the car with her on the way to Boulder from the airport was an amazing experience.
February 1st, 2007 at 4:14 pm
I envy those of you who met her. I wish I had. I read all her books, and every column I could find. She was a national treasure and will be sorely missed.
February 1st, 2007 at 4:41 pm
I saw her speak at Smith a few years ago when I was a student there. She was an inspiration to us all. We’re all sorry to lose her.
February 1st, 2007 at 7:23 pm
[...] Links to other blogs remembering Ivins: In the Pink Texas, Off the Kuff, PinkDome, Bad Astronomy Blog, Brains and Eggs, Capitol Annex,  Eye on Williamson County, Burnt Orange Report Technorati Tags: molly ivins, texas, politics, journalism, humor, cancer Posted by James in Austin, Politics, Texas Permalink [...]
February 2nd, 2007 at 5:48 am
Phil – Molly was my favorite political columnist. I checked Ft. Worth Star Telegram site every day to see if she had something new up. There was a long period recently when nothing and I heard she had cancer. I was really upset about that but then she had a couple columns recently so I thought she was getting better.
I will really miss her. I’m glad you had the opportunity to meet her and took the time to say a few words about her. I wish a lot more people were like her.
February 2nd, 2007 at 10:28 am
They played a Molly Ivans talk Comedy Hour on our public radio last night. It was hilarious.
February 2nd, 2007 at 10:31 am
Code for line thru “talk” above didn’t work. One of these days I’m going to learn these blog codes.
BTW, on one blog they have a small list of the active codes for that blog at the bottom of the column…hint hint.
February 3rd, 2007 at 8:33 am
Karma is a bitch….Just one less brain dead socialist in our society.
February 5th, 2007 at 3:34 pm
Patrick – Karma basically means “what goes around comes around”. With an attitude like yours, you better be watching your back, because no one else is going to do it.
(With any luck, he’ll soon be spinning around like a dog chasing his tail, drilling his way down through the earth’s crust and there will soon be one less brain dead neo-con in the world.)