I just heard (via my left nutmeg) that Molly Ivins has died and I'm feeling surprisingly bereft. In the 2 1/2 years that I've been blogging, it seems like I've written about the passing of too many important women -- Ann Richards, Betty Friedan, Rosa Parks. (And I feel badly that I didn't write about Tillie Olsen.) But this one seems to have shaken me more than the rest. I think it's because they all seem like people out of history, who did things long ago. Molly was writing up to the end.
She warned us all about Shrub, years ago, and we (the country) didn't listen to her. And don't we all wish we had. But she was never shrill, always funny. I remember sitting outside a laundromat waiting for my clothes to dry and reading Molly Ivins can't say that, can she? and laughing out loud, attracting odd looks from the passers-by.
The Texas Observer has (at least for now) turned their site into a memorial for her.
Firedoglake has some nice excerpts up too.
Good lord, I just saw this on Bitch, PhD., and came over to commiserate. This is really sad. I agree, too many important women have been passing lately. I think of the wonderful things she wrote about Ann Richards... if only SHE had been the Texas Governor to become president!
Posted by: landismom | January 31, 2007 at 09:22 PM
Oh, that makes me so sad. She spoke at Ohio University my freshman year there, and I swear it changed my outlook on life. She autographed my copy of Molly Ivins Can't Say That, Can She? I will always remember her words: "I don't know where these Christian conservatives get off anyways. If you actually READ the Bible, Jesus was about the biggest bleeding-heart liberal that ever lived!"
Posted by: merseydotes | February 01, 2007 at 09:50 AM
I knew I could count on you to be one of the bloggers writing about Molly's death.
Like you, I really surprised myself with a really emotional reaction to her death. I had tears running down my face and cried vocally more than once as I read some of the tributes.
Aside from the unique talent and heart of Molly herself, I think I was crying for the death of another strong liberal woman's voice. Even with the emergence of so many women bloggers, I still don't see our voices bubble up to the mainstream media much at all. (Ana Marie Cox is NOT who I'd consider a standard bearer for us...not because of her past blog, which I found fun most of the time, but because of her snide "above it all" cynicism at Time and on TV.)
Posted by: Maura | February 01, 2007 at 04:47 PM