Handy Dandy

by William Gibson

The first of many confrontations between Molly Egan, a feisty, salty-tongued activist nun in her early sevenities and District Court Judge Henry Pulaski, a conservative jurist in his sixties, occurs when she appears in his courtroom after being arrested for picketing a local arms research laboratory. Molly is a tough survivor who refuses to accept the notion that her destiny and that of the civilized world is something over which she has no control; Henry is a man devoted to logic and the law, who believes that vigils and protests are counterproductive. But as Molly is hauled back into his court again and again. Henry begins to develop a grudging respect for her courage and spirit, and eventually the two begin to hear each other out on a personal as well as professional level. Molly, who had three husbands and four abortions before becoming a nun, proves to have not only a strong sense of purpose but also a wise, compassionate heart; and Henry, widowed and alienated from his only son, is both lonely and vulnerable behind his stern exterior. In the end, weakened by a protest fast, Molly dies but her sacrifice, if only because of the change it works in her onetime adversary and eventual admirer, is not in vain.

72 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1998

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name. See this thread for more information.

William Gibson was a Tony Award-winning American playwright and novelist. He graduated from the City College of New York in 1938.

Gibson's most famous play is The Miracle Worker (1959), the story of Helen Keller's childhood education, which won him the Tony Award for Best Play after he adapted it from his original 1957 telefilm script. He adapted the work again for the 1962 film version, receiving an Academy Award nomination for Best Adapted Screenplay; the same actresses who previously had won Tony Awards for their performances in the stage version, Anne Bancroft and Patty Duke, received Academy Awards for the film version as well.