“We are the people who run this country. We are the deciders. And every single day, every one of us needs to step outside and take some action to help stop this war. Raise hell. Make our troops know we’re for them and trying to get them out of there. Hit the streets to protest Bush’s proposed surge. … We need people in the streets, banging pots and pans and demanding, ‘Stop it, now!'” — From Molly Ivins’ final column
Syndicated columnist Molly Ivins died Wednesday evening, after her long-running battle against breast cancer took a turn for the worse last week. The Texas icon was hospitalized at Seton Medical Center on Thursday. She returned home Monday to be with friends and family. Ivins, 62, was first diagnosed with cancer in 1999, and it recurred in 2003 and 2005. In August she underwent chemotherapy treatment, but the cancer “came back with a vengeance” and spread through her body, her brother Andy told the Houston Chronicle. We invite our readers to leave their thoughts on Molly’s life and work at the “comment on this story” link below. Further remembrances of Ivins may be found at www.texasobserver.org.
For updates, see Chronic, our news blog, at austinchronicle.com/chronic.
Tonight (Thursday, February 1) a celebration of Ivins’ life will be held at City Hall; info here.
Below are links to articles by and about Molly Ivins in the pages of the Chronicle over the years.
• Excerpt from “Leave No Child Behind,” by Louis Dubose and Molly Ivins, October 3, 2003
• ‘The Powerful Odor of Mendacity,’ Molly Ivins and Louis Dubose interviewed by Michael King, October 3, 2003
• Review of Ivins and Dubose’s Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush, “Off the Bookshelf,” by Jay Trachtenberg, May 19, 2000
• Review of You Got to Dance With Them What Brung You, “In Person,” by Lisa Tozzi, April 6, 1998
• Ivins takes to the street to advocate for the homeless: “This Ain’t No KOA,” by Audrey Duff, February 16, 1996
• Ivins on property rights legislation: “Not Fit for Austin Consumption,” May 18, 1995
This article appears in February 2 • 2007.