The death of Molly Ivins comes at time when we need her most as people across the country are starting to find their voices again. It is just that she lived long enough to see the crooked GOP congress sent packing, as she was prime mover in the battle that toppled the rotten, right-wing, Republican “reich”. It was she who gave Boy George Bush his classic nickname “Shrub”.
Her last column was a call to go out and raise hell to stop the war in Iraq. She called on us to go out into the streets and bang pans to get the message out.
Below, is an old post I managed to recover from the previous crash of this blog (sigh). This was a special dinner honoring Molly and raising money for the Texas Observer.
You can read Molly’s last column (Yes, she went out fighting), if you click here. By the way, if you want to honor Molly, send a donation to her foundation at the Texas Monthly, or just subscribe (click here). Help keep her spirit alive.
More on Molly can be found if you click here.
Molly Ivins did say that and more!
Friends honor Molly
Molly Ivins lost her job at The New York Times when she called a chicken killing and dressing festival a “gang pluck”. She is revered for such of observations as, “If Jim Collins’ IQ sinks any lower we’d have to water him twice a week.”
That wit and her addiction to a frumpy fashion sense all came out at An Evening with Molly Ivins Sunday night in Austin. You get the idea of the event with the subtitle – “A roast? Hell, no! It’s a BBQ!” It also was a fundraiser for The Texas Observer.
“It’s good to be in a roomful of Texas liberals,” proclaimed author and humorist Garrison Keillor , “especially in these rocky times.” “Molly has thrived on adversity,” said the host of A Prairie Home Companion. “She may wish the Lord had not been so generous to her.” Molly is her third bout with cancer. She joked that the event could have been named “a tribute to Molly not dying yet again.” The Austin-American Statesman has an update on her condition. Keillor told the sold-out crowd at the Marriott Austin at the Capitol he had brought photocopies of many articles Molly had written in her three years at the Minneapolis Tribune. He offered to raise money for the Texas Observer by selling them to highest bidder. “Who,” he added, “judging from what she wrote, might by Molly Ivins herself.” “If they dropped a bomb, “humorist Roy Blount Jr. told the crowd, “you would wipe out all the liberals in Texas.” Blount quoted Molly – “The three most overestimated things in the world are young pussy, MAC trucks and the FBI”.
“Which,” he added, “if you think about it, is a feminist statement.” Recently, Molly suggested Bill Moyers of public television fame be drafted to run for president and urged her readers to urge him to do so. A message from Moyers’ wife Judith Davidson Moyers said -“We want you to come to New York, and answer the several thousand letters we got that Bill run for president of the United States.” Former State Senator Carl Parker remembered Molly, for whom a “12-pack was truth serum”. Former Galveston State Senator and Killer Bee Babe Schwartz jabbed Molly for her style of quoting. First, the veteran ace filibuster said, Molly writes “as Babe Schwartz said”. Then, she writes “as many people have said”. Finally, Schwartz said, Molly writes, “as I always have said. Lewis Lapham, editor emeritus of Harper’s magazine, quoted Archibald MacLeish in saying “The dissenter is every human being at those moments of his life when he resigns momentarily from the herd and begins to think for himself”. “Molly has had so many of those moments,” said Lapham, “that by now we can accept her resignation from the herd as permanent. “She reminds us dissent is what rescues democracy from a quiet death behind closed doors.” Molly’s lack of fashion savvy took many hits. In a skit, “Molly” says, “I get all my fashion tips from Janet Reno”. The friend helping “Molly” shop in the skit tells the sales clerk Molly wants something that she can “wash and wear and wear and wear and wear” Radio commentator and author Jim Hightower, who also served a hitch as editor of The Texas Observer, joined the attack on Molly’s lack of fashion sense. The former state agriculture commissioner said Molly’s thin, wisp of hair growing back after chemotherapy was the first instance “when a hairdo was improved by cancer”. The 1972 unsuccessful Democratic candidate for governor Sissy Farenthold was in attendance. Having just passed her 80th birthday, the crowd sang Happy Birthday to her. By the way, the event raised more than $200,000 for The Texas Observer, and brought it over the top for a $500,000 matching grant. Part of that grant is to fund more investigative journalism and to award an annual prize for investigative journalism named – The Molly. Last night, the first Molly was awarded to Molly.
