The Writing Life Too

Overcast skies this morning. I've sometimes gone for days, weeks, months without watching television, but this past week have watched a lot of the coverage on the death of Ted Kennedy. It seems that his enduring lessons are service to others, compassion,and perseverance.

Since I was a girl I've read biographies of people who overcame difficult odds or struggles, and have always been inspired by the human spirit. It's always a good idea when you're aiming high--to be a published writer--to study the lives of people who have made a difference. So read about your literary heroes--how did they do it, how did they spend their days, how did they bounce back from rejection?

Today is the birthday of one of my writer-heroes, the late Molly Ivins. She is the featured writer on The Writer's Almanac today and in part it says: "Her fiery liberal columns caused a lot of debate in Texas, with newspaper readers always writing in to complain. One time, she wrote about the Republican congressman from Dallas: "If his IQ slips any lower we'll have to water him twice a day." It generated a storm of controversy, and the paper she wrote for decided to use it to their advantage, to boost readership. They started placing advertisements on billboards all over Dallas that said, "Molly Ivins can't say that … can she?" She used the line as the title of her first book (published in 1991).

She went on to write several best-selling books, including Shrub: The Short but Happy Political Life of George W. Bush — which was actually written and published in 2000, before George W. Bush had been elected to the White House. Ivins later said, "The next time I tell you someone from Texas should not be president of the United States, please, pay attention."

Molly Ivins died of breast cancer a couple of years ago, at the age of 62. She once wrote: "Having breast cancer is massive amounts of no fun. First they mutilate you; then they poison you; then they burn you. I have been on blind dates better than that."

Molly Ivins once said: "I am not anti-gun. I'm pro-knife. Consider the merits of the knife. In the first place, you have to catch up with someone in order to stab him. A general substitution of knives for guns would promote physical fitness. We'd turn into a whole nation of great runners. Plus, knives don't ricochet. And people are seldom killed while cleaning their knives."

And, "The thing about democracy, beloveds, is that it is not neat, orderly, or quiet. It requires a certain relish for confusion."