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\t\t\t\tBy signing up, you agree to the terms<\/a><\/p>\n The incidents all occurred this spring, immediately following Hegseth\u2019s anti-DEI order. That was also when a military base near Tacoma, Washington, canceled a planned reading of the children\u2019s book \u201cPedal Pusher: How One Woman\u2019s Bicycle Adventure Helped Change The World.\u201d The picture book is a biography of Annie Cohen Kopchovsky, who in 1895 became the first woman to cycle around the world.<\/p>\n The talk featuring the book\u2019s author was scheduled to be held this past March, during Women\u2019s History Month, at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, home to around 110,000 people, including service members and their families. Boone, a Tacoma resident, revealed the reasons <\/a>behind the cancellation in a Seattle Times op-ed on October 11, in recognition of Banned Books Week.<\/p>\n \u201cFour days before the event, I was told it violated the administration\u2019s executive order restricting so-called \u2018radical\u2019 Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion programs across federal institutions,\u201d Boone wrote. \u201cSomeone complained when they saw my story time being promoted. Museum higher-ups appealed to military attorneys, who ruled that the program about a pioneering cyclist was out of bounds.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cLet that sink in,\u201d she wrote. \u201cThe Commander-in-Chief of the U.S. military had effectively declared a woman on a bike too threatening for children.\u201d<\/p>\n A representative for Joint Base Lewis-McChord declined to comment, citing reduced office functions owing to the ongoing government shutdown.<\/p>\n Boone, who is not Jewish but is married to a Jew, told JTA that she was led to believe someone on the base had complained after seeing a poster advertising the reading. She doubts that those objecting to the book had actually read it, but rather had reacted because \u201cit was a book about a woman.\u201d<\/p>\n \t Illustrative: Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth speaks during a news conference at the Pentagon in Washington, June 22, 2025, after the US military struck three sites in Iran, directly joining Israel\u2019s effort to destroy the country\u2019s nuclear program. (AP\/Alex Brandon)<\/p>\n A section of the book briefly mentions Kopchovsky\u2019s Jewish and immigrant identity as one reason why her journey, as a mother of three circumnavigating the globe by bike in 1895<\/a>, was so improbable.<\/p>\n \u201cAnnie was a Latvian Jewish immigrant, and this was a time when prejudice toward Jewish people was widespread,\u201d the book reads.<\/p>\n Initially, Boone said, she had not planned to include the section in the book, which only runs to 700 words. \u201cMy editor called and said, \u2018This is a huge part of her story you left out,\u2019\u201d the author recalled. She said she responded, \u201cI\u2019m not a Jewish writer. Can I tell this? She was like, \u2018Yes, you can tell this.\u2019\u201d The passage made the book.<\/p>\n Greentrike, a nonprofit that operates the base\u2019s museum as well as a different children\u2019s museum in Tacoma, did not immediately return a request for comment. Another March event featuring Boone at the Children\u2019s Museum of Tacoma, off base, went forward as scheduled.<\/p>\n The Seattle Times obtained an email from Greentrike outlining the military\u2019s reasons for the book\u2019s cancellation as part of the op-ed\u2019s fact-checking process.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/AP25173438193518-640x400.jpg\")
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