<p>" Molly Ivins, the liberal newspaper columnist who delighted in skewering politicians and interpreting, and mocking, her Texas culture, died yesterday in Austin. She was 62.</p>
<p>Ms. Ivins waged a public battle against breast cancer after her diagnosis in 1999. Betsy Moon, her personal assistant, confirmed her death last night. Ms. Ivins died at her home surrounded by family and friends.</p>
<p>In her syndicated column, which appeared in about 350 newspapers, Ms. Ivins cultivated the voice of a folksy populist who derided those who she thought acted too big for their britches. She was rowdy and profane, but she could filet her opponents with droll precision.</p>
<p>After Patrick J. Buchanan, as a conservative candidate for president, declared at the 1992 Republican National Convention that the United States was engaged in a cultural war, she said his speech “probably sounded better in the original German.”</p>
<p>“There are two kinds of humor,” she told People magazine. One was the kind “that makes us chuckle about our foibles and our shared humanity,” she said. “The other kind holds people up to public contempt and ridicule. That’s what I do.”</p>
<p>Hadn't realized that she was a Smithie. Good on Smith, good on her. I've a couple of her volumes on my bookshelf, I guess this means I'll never get them signed. But the battle against the Grand Village Idiot will move forward.</p>
<p>I had the privilege of hearing her speak on campus in fall, 2002. (That year, they held the inauguration of Carol Christ during Family Weekend, making it an especially festive weekend. Wonderful fireworks over Paradise Pond!) Ivins was great. She has also been a Rally Day speaker.
[quote]
October 3, 2002
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE</p>
<p>NOTED SMITH ALUMNAE, INCLUDING GLORIA STEINEM AND MOLLY IVINS, TO REFLECT ON THE CIVIC RESPONSIBILITIES
OF TODAY'S COLLEGES AND THEIR GRADUATES</p>
<p>Inauguration Weekend Panel Discussion To Consider Smith As
"A Private College With A Public Conscience"