ellenkushner: (Madame J.)
ellenkushner ([personal profile] ellenkushner) wrote2008-03-12 04:40 pm

Jews on Bikes

Clearly, someone should write a novel about this woman - or at least give her a walk-on in as many period pieces as possible:

"When Annie Cohen Kopchovsky (who adopted the decidedly less ethnic name of "Annie Londonderry") left Boston in June 1894, she was a young woman with a 42-pound bicycle, one change of underwear, a revolver, and a dream of adventure and financial independence. Her epic journey around the world by bicycle turned this Jewish immigrant and mother of three into an international celebrity. In Around the World on Two Wheels: Annie Londonderry's Extraordinary Ride, author Peter Zheutlin vividly recounts the story of this audacious woman in a highly readable blend of social history and travel narrative."

Gakked from the Jewish Women's Archives, who are sponsoring a Lunch Talk with the author in Boston on March 18th. They are also collecting stories, photos, interviews, etc. that document the experiences of Jewish American women during the Second World War. You can help, no matter where you live.

[identity profile] squidflakes.livejournal.com 2008-03-12 08:54 pm (UTC)(link)
Well, that sure beats my title for the book "Kikes on Bikes"

Still, it sounds like it would be a hell of a read. I'm curious to know how she got around in some of the more bicycle unfriendly portions of the world. This being all of them in the late 1800's

[identity profile] catwithclaws.livejournal.com 2008-03-12 08:55 pm (UTC)(link)
Whoa.

see, now THAT is the sort of stuff I'd have loved to have learned about in my "Women's Studies" class in college. But no, we instead were preached at by 60s liberals with no sense of discussion or playing devil's advocate. Alas.

[identity profile] ellen-kushner.livejournal.com 2008-03-13 05:51 pm (UTC)(link)
As Is & Adrienne remark below - It's All about the Underwear....

[identity profile] queenbookwench.livejournal.com 2008-03-12 09:46 pm (UTC)(link)
That is amazingly cool. She needs to be a character in a steampunk fantasy, I think. :)

[identity profile] ellen-kushner.livejournal.com 2008-03-13 05:51 pm (UTC)(link)
Absolutely!

[identity profile] martinimade.livejournal.com 2008-03-13 03:20 pm (UTC)(link)
This. is. Awesome.

I think it's the detail about the change of underwear that really makes it feel lived in. And, seriously awesome.

[identity profile] isabelswift.livejournal.com 2008-03-13 05:48 pm (UTC)(link)
Thanks--have sent the link to all my bicycle riding friends to enhance their bicycling history. It's All About The Underwear, Lance.

[identity profile] ellen-kushner.livejournal.com 2008-03-13 05:50 pm (UTC)(link)
Hi, Miz Martini! Great to see you here - you should set up an LJ RSS Feed(?) link to your actual journal, so lame technophobes can "friend" you! WEnt to your blog - your kids are incredibly cute.

Is -
[Error: Irreparable invalid markup ('<laughing [...] hard!!>') in entry. Owner must fix manually. Raw contents below.]

Hi, Miz Martini! Great to see you here - you should set up an LJ RSS Feed(?) link to your actual journal, so lame technophobes can "friend" you! WEnt to your blog - your kids are incredibly cute.

Is - <Laughing very hard!!>

[identity profile] martinimade.livejournal.com 2008-03-13 09:55 pm (UTC)(link)
That is a great idea, Mz K. I just can't figure out how to do it. Hrm.

And the kids do have a mighty cuteness -- and there are days that is what saves them from being sold to gypsies. We are, however, very lucky.