Molly Never Made It To The Northwestern

I was searching through some old Microsoft word files this morning, looking for a letter of recommendation I wrote for a student who has now asked for another. While searching, I came across a letter I sent to Jim Fitzhenry, then Oshkosh Northwestern editorial page editor, in August of 1999. At the time, he and Executive Editor Stew Rieckman had appeared on "Commentary," a show I produced an cohosted with former Oshkosh Mayor James Mather. I was pleasantly surprised to see that in my letter to Fitzhenry thanking him for being on the show, I made a request that Molly Ivins' column run on the editorial page. At the time the paper was running Cynthia Tucker and Ellen Goodman as its "liberal" syndicated columnists--good writers but not nearly as hard hitting and fun as Molly. Wingnut Mona Charen is mentioned in the letter too because her column also ran on the page.

Molly never made it to the Northwestern, and now that she's gone to the great gadfly farm in the sky she never will. However, my letter also mentioned Norman Solomon, who is still alive and raising hell. The request to get him on the page still stands.

Of all the tributes for Molly I have read, I think Robert Scheer's best captures her spirit: "As a columnist, she was the best of our time, piercingly insightful without being mean-spirited or petty. Her pen was scalpel-sharp, excising malignancy, but guided always by a generous spirit inviting even those with whom she took fierce issue to come to their senses and help us to heal."

Here's my letter to Fitzhenry:

August 12, 1999

Jim Fitzhenry
Editorial Page Editor
Oshkosh Northwestern

Dear Jim:

Just a note to thank you again for appearing on “Commentary” this past Wednesday. Jim Mather and I appreciated your candid and thoughtful responses to all of our questions. We hope you will appear on the program again at some future date.

On another note, the next time you think about adding new syndicated columnists to the editorial page, I hope you will consider publishing some of the work of Molly Ivins and/or Norman Solomon. Whereas people like Cynthia Tucker and Ellen Goodman I might call “mainstream liberal,” Ivins and Solomon are (in my opinion at least) more authentically “progressive.” We know that Mona Charen will be beating up on Al Gore; Ivins does a pretty good number on George W. Bush. Biographies of Ivins and Solomon are available on the Creators Syndicate website (www.creators.com).

Thanks again for appearing on the show, and all the best to you.

Sincerely,


Tony Palmeri