Passage: Bella Abzug, 77

The hat-wearing feminist who fought for civil rights and against the Vietnam War was elected to Congress in 1970 on the slogan "This woman's place is in the House - the House of Representatives." She died today from complications following heart surgery in New York. In her own words: "There are those who say I'm impatient, impetuous, uppity, rude, profane, brash, and overbearing.... But whatever I am - and this ought to be made very clear at the outset - I am a very serious woman."

The hat-wearing feminist who fought for civil rights and against the Vietnam War was elected to Congress in 1970 on the slogan "This woman's place is in the House - the House of Representatives." She died today from complications following heart surgery in New York. In her own words: "There are those who say I'm impatient, impetuous, uppity, rude, profane, brash, and overbearing.... But whatever I am - and this ought to be made very clear at the outset - I am a very serious woman."