Call this a personal note. I just heard that Molly Ivins has died. There was a short news item here today saying that her breast cancer had returned, this time with a vengeance.
I've never met Molly Ivins, but I've read her columns for many years, and I've come to think of her as a friend. Always cantankerous with a smile, always willing to fight the good fight. Always cutting, but always kind. And one of the best commentators on the national and Texas political scenes. I've read all her books, and am saddened to know that such a funny, biting, loving, and true voice has been stilled, and all too soon.
— "The poor man who is currently our president has reached such a point
of befuddlement that he thinks stem cell research is the same as taking
human lives, but that 40,000 dead Iraqi civilians are progress toward
democracy," from a July 2006 column urging commentator Bill Moyers to
run for president.
She's been very ill for a while, and battling the cancer as she's battled a lot of other things. She went back to work very recently just long enough to ask us to all fight the war in Iraq in a column supporting last weekend's Washington protest.
Go read one of her books or one of her classic columns. Laugh your fool head off - then think about what you can do to change things. It's the best way to remember her, and if you can do at least a little something to make the world better today, then she'll know you heard her.
