Thursday, February 01, 2007

Does anyone know, what the hell are we going to do without Molly Ivins (1944-2007)?

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If you want someone to say something coherent about the loss of Molly Ivins, you can probably travel pretty much anywhere else on the Internet.

Me, I'm just numb.

I expect you know that Molly died yesterday at 62, at home, surrounded by family and friends, after an ugly struggle against breast cancer dating back to 1999. Beyond that, what is there to say? That she was at the same time the most serious and the funniest observer of American politics? That nothing could stifle her outrage, and almost nothing her wit? That an awful lot of people who write about politics now are doing it, or at the very least doing it better, because of the way she did it? That, even so, she is one of those rare people you think of as truly irreplaceable?

All of that is true, but doesn't give us Molly, or what her writing meant to so many readers, or suggest what to do about the void left by her untimely departure. I guess, though, that she would want to leave us with a message of hope. After all, we got ourselves into this damn mess, she might remind us, so we can damn well get ourselves out of it.

I really haven't wanted to read tributes to Molly, but they're hard to avoid. One point hit me hard: the cosmic injustice whereby she failed to outlive this damnable Bush administration, which she may have understood better (the Texas connnection)--and hated more--than most anybody else.

Now I guess we're going to have to get those people the hell out of there, and on to the fates they have so richly earned, and work to get the country back on track--for Molly.

MEANWHILE, DON'T FORGET HER BOOKS

Fortunately, Molly published a lot of work in book form. The issues may have changed a little over time (or then again, they may not have!), but people haven't. The books are at bookstores and libraries, and they're treasures.

5 Comments:

At 12:33 PM, Blogger Kami said...

I know. I feel ya.

 
At 2:57 PM, Blogger zombie rotten mcdonald said...

I was gonna post something about it, too, but as you note, there is no shortage of tributes to the lady around the Intertubes. And it seems like everybody is so much more eloquent than I could be.

It's very heartening to know that everybody I enjoy reading, also enjoyed reading her.

But the hard part is just what you put your finger on. Who will fill her shoes? Who could?

The most alling thing, perhaps, is knowing almost as a certainty, how George . responded to hearing the news: "Heh heh."

 
At 5:16 PM, Blogger jurassicpork said...

I linked to this post because the title alone sums up our sense of numb hopelessness.

 
At 9:20 PM, Blogger KenInNY said...

Thanks to the above commenters for sharing their thoughts. I think it's the only thing we can do at the moment.

I'd also like to share this thought that Joe Conason posted online today:

Thankfully Molly had an amazing opportunity to learn how well she was loved by her fellow Texans and many others at a barbecue bash honoring her in Austin that was sponsored by the Texas Observer last fall. I've never seen anyone face disease and the prospect of death so cheerfully as she did that night. And I cannot tell you how glad we were to have been there, knowing that this terrible day would come.

I hope they will eventually post video of that evening on their site. Meanwhile they have a wonderful tribute to her up on their site
Home - The Texas Observer.

 
At 6:29 AM, Blogger Daniel DiRito said...

To see Molly Ivins at her satirical best in a video called "The Dildo Diaries"...link here:

www.thoughttheater.com

 

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