What Did Molly Read?
April 9th, 2008 at 1:34 pm
While we were all reading Molly Ivins — her books, her columns, her quips — what was Molly reading?
That question isn’t entirely answered by the exhibit that opened a few days ago at Texas State University in San Marcos, but it’s clear she was reading, and reading a lot. “Molly Ivins’ Library,” on view at the campus’ Alkek Library, displays just a smattering of the 3,500 books from Molly’s personal library recently gifted by brother Andrew Ivins, but the collection shows a voracious reader’s catholic breadth, from the touching (a small leather-bound Bible) to the delightful (a book of pastry recipes from the Hill Country’s Rather Sweet Bakery & Cafe) to the distasteful (Ann Coulter’s Treason).
Seems Molly had a fondness for biography (LBJ, Mark Twain, Anton Chekhov and Albert Camus all get shelf space) and a soft spot for fiction (novels by P.D. James and Stephen Harrigan, among others).
As befits an author of renown in her own right, Molly’s collection also held inscribed gems from colleagues, cohorts, and well-wishers.
“Wish I could write like you!” former Speaker of the House Jim Wright wrote on his own book’s title page.
“Dear Twin,” Maya Angelou’s inscription began.
“To Molly…who done knows how much I love her,” gushed John Henry Faulk.
Heavyweights like Jim Crumley and Bud Shrake weigh in with signed editions as well, but the capper has to be Nancy Reagan’s mysteriously giddy inscription on her own memoir: “Mooch all you can, baby…”
But as glamorous as the high-end literary back-patting must have been, the fact remains that Molly’s collection was no mere vanity, but a genuine working library.
How can you tell? The presence of The Idiot’s Guide to Positive Dog Training is a dead giveaway.
April 9th, 2008 at 3:00 pm
Chekhov. You guys need a web editor. Molly Ivins rules. –MH
April 10th, 2008 at 11:13 am
Looks like we’ve got one. Thanks for the quick - and now corrected - catch.
April 10th, 2008 at 4:19 pm
this made me smile.
April 14th, 2008 at 9:15 am
Maybe both Molly and Charlton Heston would read this:
Rootin’ Tootin’ Kahones in a Pant Suit
Hell bent for that there city slicker!
Inside the bar for rounds of liquor.
Lookin’ every hombre in the eye.
Lightin’ words began to fly!
Ain’t no fancy city talk
Really gonna stop this gun tote’n lady hawk.
Yep, she sermonized about her big iron piece.
Rarin’ to fire off a few rounds in a lead feast!
Orderin’ up more drinks for the whole house.
Determin’d to call out that smooth talkin’ louse?
How could from this lady sharpshooter he get away?
All he and his preacher man could do was pray?
Makin’ nary a move to slap leather!
Could have heard the drop of a teeny feather!
Loud was the silence in the crowd!
Instantly all wer’d cow’d!
Not one stampeded for the door!
Thumpin’ heartbeats began to soar!
Openly apologizin’ was the tenderfoot as he backed out!
No bitter shots were fired after the verbal and liquor rout!
Hubert Wilson