Sallie Bingham

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You are here: Home / Politics / Pigtail on Fire

Pigtail on Fire

November 24th, 2019 by Sallie Bingham in Politics 3 Comments

Fiona Hill testifies at the impeachment hearings. C-SPAN.

Rising head and shoulders above the blundering Republicans, Dr. Fiona Hill, a model of restrained, dignified professional integrity, treated these men’s “fictional narrative” of Ukraine interference into our election as a wayward attempt to support Donald Trump’s nefarious actions, playing, she insisted, into the hands of the Russian president.

It would be foolish to place the issues of moral and legal probity in the hands of one woman, or all women. Yet Dr. Hill, who was the State Department’s top advisor on Russian affairs for decades, seemed to me, uniquely as a woman, to represent a fearless insistence on doing the right thing.

Perhaps it was her fearlessness as she calmly faced a horde of questioners that impressed me as much as her righteousness. After all, as The New York Times pointed out, this is a woman who is not likely to be flustered into cutting moral corners. When she was eleven years old, the Times reported, she asked a classmate to set fire to one of her pigtails, put out the flames with her bare hands, and went on taking the test.

I see this innate fearlessness in many girls up to the age of puberty, when their fearlessness seems to be doused. The other day as I was waiting with others outside an overcrowded restaurant, I was delighted to see an eight or nine-year-old girl solving the problem of a long wait with grownups by climbing up a snow-crowned eight-foot wall and perching triumphantly on the top. It seemed a shame when her over-anxious father called her down to endure more boring waiting. Her mother echoed the same exaggerated warning.

Dr. Hill... seemed to me, uniquely as a woman, to represent a fearless insistence on doing the right thing.

I’m sure Dr. Hill’s mother heard about the burning pigtail from school authorities, and even chastised her daughter. But, in the long run, it is our ability and willingness to climb to the top of walls and put out fires with our bare hands what makes the world a more possible place.

Dr. Hill was calmly and methodically putting out a fire with her bare hands at the House Impeachment hearing. The Republicans present must have been very relieved that it was the last day.

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In Politics Donald Trump 20 Favorites of 2019

A long and fruitful career as a writer began in 1960 with the publication of Sallie Bingham's novel, After Such Knowledge. This was followed by 15 collections of short stories in addition to novels, memoirs and plays, as well as the 2020 biography The Silver Swan: In Search of Doris Duke.

Her latest book, Taken by the Shawnee, is a work of historical fiction published by Turtle Point Press in June of 2024. Her previous memoir, Little Brother, was published by Sarabande Books in 2022. Her short story, "What I Learned From Fat Annie" won the Thomas Wolfe Fiction Prize in 2023 and the story "How Daddy Lost His Ear," from her forthcoming short story collection How Daddy Lost His Ear and Other Stories (September 23, 2025), received second prize in the 2023 Sean O’Faolain Short Story Competition.

She is an active and involved feminist, working for women’s empowerment, who founded the Kentucky Foundation for Women, which gives grants to Kentucky artists and writers who are feminists, The Sallie Bingham Center for Women's History and Culture at Duke University, and the Women’s Project and Productions in New York City. She lives in Santa Fe, New Mexico.

Sallie's complete biography is available here.

Comments

  1. Sara Morsey says

    November 24th, 2019 at 10:09 am

    “But, in the long run, it is our ability and willingness to climb to the top of walls and put out fires with our bare hands what makes the world a more possible place.” Sallie Bingham can wield a pen like no other! I am thankful for her.

    Reply
  2. Patrick Moore says

    November 24th, 2019 at 10:22 am

    Inspirational – genuine!

    A few courageous women may indeed save our society & planet!!

    Special thanks to Sallie & all the courageous ones speaking truth to power!!!

    Reply
  3. Alan Macrae says

    November 24th, 2019 at 10:34 am

    As I watched Fiona Hill testify I thought and continue to think that there is a savior among us and it is a woman. Global warming be damned between Fiona and Greta we will find the answer and bring back the world from the brink.

    Reply

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Taken By The Shawnee

Taken By The Shawnee

July 6th, 2025
Sallie Bingham introduces and reads from her latest work, Taken by the Shawnee.
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Rebecca Reynolds & Salie Bingham at SOMOS

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