George:

There is deep sadness whenever a vital voice has been stilled forever. Molly Ivins' voice was unique, both in sound and substance. She dropped her "g's" in true Texas style, but her passion for truth and justice was palpable. Never more palpable than when she spoke and wrote about George W. Bush.

"Shrub" she called him, and I always thought that was too generous. "Twig" would seem to be more representative of the ethical, moral and intellectual stature of a man who continues to demean the office of the president.

Molly Ivins was - will always be - a beacon to me. A beacon shining its light on the value of using langauge to convey - when the need is intense - contempt and outrage. She was never afraid to stick her neck - and her sentences - out in order to show anger and disgust for those who are politically pathological.

If anyone reading this thinks I am, in the slightest way, making a connection between this miracle of a woman and myself, they are sorely mistaken. This tribute - which is what I am writing - seeks to inspire others to use the gift of language to go public with words in order to praise, when deserved, and to hold up for ridicule and contempt those who are destroying privacy, democracy and the U. S. Constitution.

In so doing, we will have the solace of honoring brave, magnificent Molly in the way she would have wished to be honored: through the power and force of words.

Barbara Rich (February 5, 2007)