美国国家公共电台 NPR A Portrait Of Molly Ivins, Maverick Texas Journalist, In 'Raise Hell'

 

LULU GARCIA-NAVARRO, HOST:

Molly Ivins was a liberal columnist¹, speaker and political gadfly who took on the powerful politicians of her native Texas and earned their admiration² for doing it. A new documentary about her is opening in theaters around the country. It's called "Raise Hell: The Life And Times Of Molly Ivins." Here is NPR's Wade³ Goodwyn in Dallas.

WADE GOODWYN, BYLINE⁴: In 2019, it's almost hard to remember just how different things were back in the 1970s when Molly Ivins scorched⁵ a trail through good-ol'-boy Texas politics like a flame thrower through a cactus⁶ patch.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

MOLLY IVINS: The legislature was fairly corrupt⁷ in those days. And the fact that it was and that everybody knew it and that people laughed about it struck me as worth reporting. And I thought, (laughter) why not put it in the way it is?

GOODWYN: That simple but radical⁸ idea set Ivins' writing apart all her days. In an interview with me, not long before she died of breast cancer in 2007, Ivins recounted her life and career.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

IVINS: Being tall helped, being 6 feet tall. You know, nobody ever looked at me and said, oh, you poor, slight, tiny, fragile, little thing. We can't possibly send you out to cover a fire. It was always, Ivins, get your ass⁹ out there.

GOODWYN: Ivins was affable, funny and a hell of a good storyteller. Politicians liked having Molly around. At the day's end, she'd drop by the office of the lieutenant¹⁰ governor or the House speaker and have a drink or two. She'd tell a story. They'd tell her one. The drinks and conversation would flow. And by 7 o'clock, happy hour was over. And she'd know things no other reporter did.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

IVINS: I have drunk enough beer to float the battleship Texas in pursuit of political stories.

GOODWYN: At the left-wing Texas Observer in Austin, Ivins' prose took flight. She despised politicians who used their influence to further marginalize the powerless. Ivan's was completely unafraid of them. And she used humor to turn her targets into punchlines.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED NPR BROADCAST)

IVINS: I think the meanest thing I ever said about one of them was that he ran on all fours, sucked eggs and had no sense of humor. And I swear I saw him in the Capitol the next day. And all he said was, baby, you put my name in your paper (laughter).

GOODWYN: The truth of the matter was, no matter what Ivins wrote about them, it wasn't about to get conservative politicians in trouble back home in East and West Texas. The new documentary "Raise Hell: The Life And Times Of Molly Ivins" is a six-year labor¹¹ of love by filmmaker Janice Engel, who by the way is not even a Texan.

JANICE ENGEL: Molly came into my radar¹² through my producing partner, my friend James Egan who in 2012 called me up and said, you need to go see this one-woman play called "Red Hot Patriot¹³: The Kick-Ass Wit Of Molly Ivins." It stars Kathleen Turner. And I said, why? And he said, don't ask. Just go.

(SOUNDBITE OF PLAY, "RED HOT PATRIOT: THE KICK-ASS WIT OF MOLLY IVINS")

KATHLEEN TURNER: (As Molly Ivins) I am a liberal and damn proud of it. Fish got to swim. Hearts got to bleed.

GOODWYN: She hadn't really heard of Molly Ivins before Kathleen Turner conjured¹⁴ her on the stage. But the play would change Engel's life. She began her research that night. And by the time she was finished, she discovered a treasure trove¹⁵ of Ivins' life and history archived at the University of Texas.

ENGEL: Somebody said that she knew she wanted to be famous. That's why she saved everything. And Molly was very private. She was also, I learned, a very shy person, which a lot of people couldn't even imagine because of her larger-than-life personality and her take-no-prisoners humor. No, but underneath¹⁶ it, she was actually quite shy. She was a loner. I mean, you're a writer. You - it's solitary¹⁷.

GOODWYN: The documentary pulls no punches. All those professionally productive drinking sessions turned Ivins into an alcoholic¹⁸. It affected¹⁹ her for decades until she finally went to what she called drunk school. And the movie draws on footage that lays bare Ivins' unabashed approach to journalism²⁰.

(SOUNDBITE OF DOCUMENTARY, "RAISE HELL: THE LIFE AND TIMES OF MOLLY IVINS")

IVINS: First of all, there's no such thing as objectivity. And everybody in journalism knows it. And I think we hoist²¹ ourselves on our own petard constantly by pretending that we're objective when there is no such thing. How you see the world depends on where you stand and who you are. There's nothing any of us can do about that. So my solution has been to let my readers know where I stand. And they can take that with a grain of salt or a pound myself depending on their preferences.

GOODWYN: Former Texas agricultural commissioner²² and longtime Ivins colleague Jim Hightower says the documentary does a good job capturing Ivins' essence.

JIM HIGHTOWER: Molly was not just a big woman and a big personality, though she certainly was both of those things. But she had, you know, a heart bigger than a No. 10 washtub and a brain hotter than the sun.

GOODWYN: For the last 30 years, to be a politically engaged liberal in Texas was mostly an exercise in futility²³. But Ivins believed in and loved the fight.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

IVINS: OK. Here's the real reason I'm optimistic about politics in this country. It's because I watched the Civil Rights Movement. I grew up in the South before the Civil Rights Movement. I know how much things can change and how fast things can change and how much difference government action can mean in the lives of people in this country. And the Civil Rights Movement was not something where, you know, beneficent white people decided²⁴ it was time to change things. It was poor, black people who got up and walked. And that is something I have never forgotten. You can change this country. It's our right to change it.

GOODWYN: While Molly Ivins lost her life to cancer too soon, she never lost her faith. Wade Goodwyn, NPR News, Dallas.

1 columnist   

n.专栏作家

参考例句：

• The host was interviewing a local columnist.节目主持人正在同一位当地的专栏作家交谈。
• She's a columnist for USA Today.她是《今日美国报》的专栏作家。

2 admiration   

n.钦佩，赞美，羡慕

参考例句：

• He was lost in admiration of the beauty of the scene.他对风景之美赞不绝口。
• We have a great admiration for the gold medalists.我们对金牌获得者极为敬佩。

3 wade   

v.跋涉，涉水；n.跋涉

参考例句：

• We had to wade through the river to the opposite bank.我们只好涉水过河到对岸。
• We cannot but wade across the river.我们只好趟水过去。

4 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

5 scorched   

烧焦，烤焦( scorch的过去式和过去分词 )； 使（植物）枯萎，把…晒枯； 高速行驶； 枯焦

参考例句：

• I scorched my dress when I was ironing it. 我把自己的连衣裙熨焦了。
• The hot iron scorched the tablecloth. 热熨斗把桌布烫焦了。

6 cactus   

n.仙人掌

参考例句：

• It was the first year that the cactus had produced flowers.这是这棵仙人掌第一年开花。
• The giant cactus is the vegetable skycraper.高大的仙人掌是植物界巨人。

7 corrupt   

v.贿赂，收买；adj.腐败的，贪污的

参考例句：

• The newspaper alleged the mayor's corrupt practices.那家报纸断言市长有舞弊行为。
• This judge is corrupt.这个法官贪污。

8 radical   

n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的

参考例句：

• The patient got a radical cure in the hospital.病人在医院得到了根治。
• She is radical in her demands.她的要求十分偏激。

9 ass   

n.驴；傻瓜，蠢笨的人

参考例句：

• He is not an ass as they make him.他不象大家猜想的那样笨。
• An ass endures his burden but not more than his burden.驴能负重但不能超过它能力所负担的。

10 lieutenant   

n.陆军中尉，海军上尉；代理官员，副职官员

参考例句：

• He was promoted to be a lieutenant in the army.他被提升为陆军中尉。
• He prevailed on the lieutenant to send in a short note.他说动那个副官，递上了一张简短的便条进去。

11 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

12 radar   

n.雷达，无线电探测器

参考例句：

• They are following the flight of an aircraft by radar.他们正在用雷达追踪一架飞机的飞行。
• Enemy ships were detected on the radar.敌舰的影像已显现在雷达上。

13 patriot   

n.爱国者，爱国主义者

参考例句：

• He avowed himself a patriot.他自称自己是爱国者。
• He is a patriot who has won the admiration of the French already.他是一个已经赢得法国人敬仰的爱国者。

14 conjured   

用魔术变出( conjure的过去式和过去分词 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现

参考例句：

• He conjured them with his dying breath to look after his children. 他临终时恳求他们照顾他的孩子。
• His very funny joke soon conjured my anger away. 他讲了个十分有趣的笑话，使得我的怒气顿消。

15 trove   

n.被发现的东西，收藏的东西

参考例句：

• He assembled a rich trove of Chinese porcelain.他收集了一批中国瓷器。
• The gallery is a treasure trove of medieval art.这个画廊是中世纪艺术的宝库。

16 underneath   

adj.在...下面，在...底下；adv.在下面

参考例句：

• Working underneath the car is always a messy job.在汽车底下工作是件脏活。
• She wore a coat with a dress underneath.她穿着一件大衣，里面套着一条连衣裙。

17 solitary   

adj.孤独的，独立的，荒凉的；n.隐士

参考例句：

• I am rather fond of a solitary stroll in the country.我颇喜欢在乡间独自徜徉。
• The castle rises in solitary splendour on the fringe of the desert.这座城堡巍然耸立在沙漠的边际，显得十分壮美。

18 alcoholic   

adj.（含）酒精的，由酒精引起的；n.酗酒者

参考例句：

• The alcoholic strength of brandy far exceeds that of wine.白兰地的酒精浓度远远超过葡萄酒。
• Alcoholic drinks act as a poison to a child.酒精饮料对小孩犹如毒药。

19 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

20 journalism   

n.新闻工作，报业

参考例句：

• He's a teacher but he does some journalism on the side.他是教师，可还兼职做一些新闻工作。
• He had an aptitude for journalism.他有从事新闻工作的才能。

21 hoist   

n.升高，起重机，推动；v.升起，升高，举起

参考例句：

• By using a hoist the movers were able to sling the piano to the third floor.搬运工人用吊车才把钢琴吊到3楼。
• Hoist the Chinese flag on the flagpole,please!请在旗杆上升起中国国旗！

22 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

23 futility   

n.无用

参考例句：

• She could see the utter futility of trying to protest. 她明白抗议是完全无用的。
• The sheer futility of it all exasperates her. 它毫无用处，这让她很生气。

24 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。