Political columnist Molly Ivins dies at 62

Molly Ivins, the irrepressibly irreverent political humorist and syndicated columnist who skewered legislators, governors and presidents, especially those from her beloved Texas, died of cancer Wednesday at her home in Austin. She was 62.

Ivins was diagnosed in 1999 with a rare and aggressive form of breast cancer. After fighting two recurrences, she became ill again last year as the disease spread throughout her body. Her death was announced by the Texas Observer, where she began her career as a political pundit 30 years ago.

Ivins established herself as a font of liberal outrage and hilarity during the 1970s, when she was an editor and writer at the Texas Observer. She went on to write for a wide range of publications, including the New York Times, The Nation, The Atlantic, Esquire, Readers Digest, the Dallas Times Herald and the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.

“No one is ambivalent about Molly Ivins, any more than Molly Ivins was ambivalent about issues,” wrote Doug Floyd, the editorial page editor at The Spokesman-Review, where her syndicated column ran about once a week. “She was irreverent, plainspoken and even shrill, and readers either loved her or hated her for it, but by golly they pay attention to her. Her followers were never shy about calling us when they felt we weren’t running enough of her work, and her detractors complained — but they read her first.”

Ivins also was the bestselling author of several books, including “Molly Ivins Can’t Say That, Can She?” (1991) and two sassily titled volumes on President George W. Bush, co-written with Lou Dubose: “Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush” (2000) and “Bushwhacked: Life in George W. Bush’s America” (2003).

Some of her pieces were deeply reflective or affectionate, such as her essays about Ann Richards, the former Texas governor who died in 2006; Barbara Jordan, the late black congresswoman remembered for her eloquence during the Nixon impeachment debates; and an anonymous visitor to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, D.C.

She was best known, however, for her mastery of what one critic called the “well-informed potshot,” which she generally reserved for conservative figures such as Bush (aside from “Shrub” and “Dubya” she called him “President Billy Bob Forehead”), Arnold Schwarzenegger (“a condom filled with walnuts”) and talk-show host Rush Limbaugh (whose bite was “akin to being gummed by a newt. … it leaves you with slimy stuff on your ankle”).

Liberals did not escape her arrows, either. Writing at the height of the Monica Lewinsky scandal, Ivins described President Clinton as “weaker than bus-station chili.”

Her favorite target, however, was the Texas Legislature, which she referred to as “the Lege” (pronounced like ledge). Describing knock-down-drag-out brawls, flagrant bias and absurd laws, she wrote of its shortcomings with gusto and horror, declaring it “the finest free entertainment in Texas. Better than the zoo. Better than the circus.”

She described herself as “a left-wing, aging-Bohemian journalist, who never made a shrewd career move, never dressed for success, never got married, and isn’t even a lesbian, which at least would be interesting.”

In 2001 she was inducted into the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, along with King Juan Carlos of Spain, fashion photographer Richard Avedon and former U.S. Secretary of State Madeleine Albright. She described her reaction to the honor in typical Ivins twang: It had left her “whomperjawed.”