A hole developed in my heart this afternoon. It formed while reading about the death of syndicated columnist Molly Ivins from cancer. Ivins was 62.
Molly Ivins was my inspiration for becoming a political writer. A straight shooting newspaper woman of over thirty years, Ivins' critical eye guided millions to a better understanding of how American politics are played out on state and federal levels.
Ivins was characterized as a liberal, but a careful reading of her work shows she had no affiliation with any political philosophy. Her wry critiques were reserved for greedy fools who landed on all points of the political landscape. Just a little over a year ago, she wrote of the overwhelming influence of campaign contributions in the Democratic Party, and how campaign cash contributed to the weakening of long standing policies. It was a clarion call to every American to do away with the current corrupt system, and was the impetus for my "I Am Molly" article, which urged readers to take the political system back from the "greedheads", a term Ivins coined, and fight for clean elections systems across the country.
Sure, Ivins was rough on conservatives and she often was the target of vitriolic attacks from the right. But no one was spared her witty, cynical insights. Former President Bill Clinton described Ivins as someone who was "good when she praised me and who was painfully good when she criticized me."
But Ivins served as more than a writing mentor for me. Ivins is among the last of a breed of political observers who didn't write what people wanted to read. She wrote the truth, as she saw it at least, and was willing to call someone a bullshitter regardless of their political views. She was a torchbearer for such crusading editorialists as H. L. Mencken, Ambrose Bierce, and Mike Royko; writers who put their balls on the chopping block with each successive story they published. In a century quickly becoming known for cowardice and phony machismo, Molly Ivins followed her predecessors into the storm of controversy, knowing how easily her tits would get twisted in the wringer of public opinion. It was this same courage she fought the battle with breast cancer for nearly eight years. However uncommon a person Ivins was, she practiced a courage common to all of us.
And if her death is to mean anything, we desperately need to absorb her burning passion for justice. Touch our own courage in ridding our nation of despicable, self-absorbed leaders unconcerned by the plight of common people taking solace in Ivins' words. We are all Molly's, and we can imprint our vision of this country upon neighbors, friends, and leadership alike by applying the same wisdom and bravery Ivins left as her legacy.
Soon, the hole in my heart will heal as I re-read the articles Ivins compiled for her many books, her investigative reports in archived issues of Mother Jones, and her observations on George W. Bush, whom she briefly attended high school with. I will miss her clarity; the pointed commentary so often lost in the din of bloviating pundits. But her words will continue to burn in me, fueling my disgust for the measly "old-boy" network of legislators and executives that pass as 'leaders' in this country.
Hopefully, Ivins words will continue to burn in you too, keeping your senses on alert for the next wave of bullshit our dear leaders have in store for us.
www.mytown.ca/sakin
Larry Sakin is a former non-profit medical organization executive and music producer. His writing can be found on Mytown.ca, Blogcritics, OpEd News, The People's Voice, Craig's List and The Progressive magazine. He also advocates for literacy and directs The Progressive Principles Project, and is a National Coordinator for the DFA offshoot group WeDemocrats.
Great tribute Larry. I knew Molly was in bad shape but I didn't know she had passed on until I saw your piece.
Thank you for the inspiration Molly. We'll miss you. Rest in peace, and rest assured that your burning passion for justice lives on in the hearts of many.
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John Perry (31 articles, 33 quicklinks, 1 diaries, 81 comments)
on Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 6:22:04 AM
We are not all Molly; I have to disagree, and disagree strongly. We are not all Molly Ivin. Molly was a force of nature. Molly was a woman who rose to the top in the newspaper business, in a field dominated by men, and was the first to cover police activities for the Minneapolis Tribune.
We did not all graduate from the Columbia University journalism school, and be among the first women political writers at The New York Times for six years during the 1970's. We're not all feared, and lionized by former, and present commanders-in-chief. Not even a fraction of us possess her determination, and her indomitable wit.
Molly was one of two or three women columnists that people know, and read, in this country. In the words of her friend, and political cartoonist, Molly was "a force of nature." And, in the last weeks of an eight year struggle with cancer that finally took her life, Molly had the grace, courage, and heart to want to inspire those she left behind to take to the streets with pots and pans to speak out against the two-bit euphemism this president calls a "surge."
More people succumb to fear than cancer and, though cancer may have taken Molly, she never gave in to fear. She spoke from her heart, with the kind of passion, and fire that move those for whom the words truth and justice still resonate to express only awe.
While she didn't make an issue of it, Molly worked hard to earn our respect, and she earned mine. While she worked as hard to show us that taking oneself seriously is the highest form of folly, Molly was, in the best sense of the word, one of the most serious, and most important political commentators of our times. There is only one Molly, she paid a high price to be who she was, and even the devil would surrender his seat to her.
Indeed, we are not all Molly Ivins, would that we were, but we can aspire to be the best we can be and, in doing so, honor her memory
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Jayne Lyn Stahl (168 articles, 1 quicklinks, 7 diaries, 64 comments)
on Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 12:02:30 PM
The eulogies, plus the cheap shots are pouring in.
It's typical that the cowardly somsabitches are now coming out of the woodwork, now that she can't skewer them anymore. It speaks volumes about their nature, as well as their sick death-dealing ideology. Have your little celebration, trolls, because the day of kick-ass retribution is coming. Your party will be swept out next January 20, 2008.
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Chuck Garner (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 118 comments)
on Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 12:36:37 PM
This Larry feels like he now has a hole in his soul since Molly Ivins died. Molly was 1 of a kind. Just as Ambrose Bierce inspired wits to follow his path-Molly has inspired & will inspire wits to comment in whatever forms of media are available in the future. The death's of Governor Ann & Molly will be a loss to TX & the world. But TX women will carry on; oh how a TX woman can carry on.
thi
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larry278 (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 47 comments)
on Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 1:11:32 PM
I like to think of Molly Ivins as a friend I never got to meet. Not that the friendship was only one way, I get it that she loved us all and wanted the great things this country stands for to become real for everyone. It's going to take a lot of us to make it happen. Make it fun, laugh alot.....that seems to be how she did it and it sure worked for me. Taking life lightly will keep us from turning into 'them'.
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Roger (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 336 comments)
on Thursday, February 1, 2007 at 7:24:20 PM
NPR's AM Edition sentence, "Molly Ivins is dead" jerked me awake yesterday morning. I first became aware of her over 20 years ago when she spoke at Iowa State. Yesterday NPR's Fresh Air replayed Terry Gross' 1993 interview of Ms Ivins. When Terry asked Molly for her favorite target among the TX Legislature, she replied, "Mike Martin, congressman from Longview, TX, who helped found the Moral Majority. If you put his brain in a bumblebee it would fly backwards."
She continued the story a colleague recounted over beers: Martin wanted to run for re-election. Since he had done nothing his first term, he hired someone to shoot him in the arm, then blamed the shooting on a Communist-Satanic cult (?!) conspiracy to enhance his chances. When the truth surfaced, Martin went on the lam, and the TX Rangers finally tracked him down at his mother's home. He was crouched in the stereo case (how small was Martin/how big was the case?) Molly's source then delivered the punch line: Well, you know Martin always wanted to be a speaker!
Molly added, where else would a legislature enact a law banning the hiring of a gunman to shoot the person who hired him?
The liberal media has lost a major voice - at age 62 Molly could have had decades more of muckraking and hell-raising against the criminals and idiots in power. Fortunately the mountain of her life's writings will continue to provide inspiration to us and our progeny. While we will miss her sorely, we rejoice that she and Ann Richards must be picking up from where they left off when the Grim Reaper took Ann on 14 Sept 2006. I'd give something to be a fly on the wall during their conversations!
versiera
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sony (0 articles, 0 quicklinks, 0 diaries, 5 comments)
on Friday, February 2, 2007 at 2:38:53 PM
