A Tribute to Molly Ivins

What can I say of Molly Ivins that others who know her haven’t said? We all know she was talented, tough-minded, funny, fearless, had a great, booming laugh, and was a great friend to have. She called a spade a spade—she backed off from nobody. Yet she could be entertained even by those whose deeds horrified her. When she was covering the New York Legislature for The New York Times some years ago, she told me, “Those guys in Albany may be as dumb and as crooked as some of our Texas solons, but they are duller than a butter knife. At least in Austin our malpractors are good for some laughs.” I am proud to be in the same vocation Molly Ivins was, and I’m proud of what she accomplished as a columnist, book writer, and muckraker.

Larry L. King is a novelist, journalist, and playwright.