J.T. Leroy poser unmasked?

Galumphing down the track like an aged racehorse, the New York Times has taken its own good time investigating the real identity of the person or persons behind the persona of J.T. LeRoy, author of several books as well as one piece published in the NYT travel section.

Given its Jayson Blair history, you'd think the Times might have been a little faster on the draw when the identity of writers it both publishes and reviews is questioned. But maybe they wanted to be careful -- after all, they wouldn't want to publish something wrong. That never happens -- and it better not happen anymore.

This just in, then: the Times' investigation has revealed that the person posing as J.T. Leroy in public (though not the author of the "Leroy" oeuvre) is Savannah Knoop, a model "in her mid 20s." Knoop is the half sister of one Geoffrey Knoop, the husband of Laura Albert; it is Albert (aka Emily Fraser or Speedie) who is the prime suspect as actual author of the works signed by "J.T. Leroy."

Right, let's review: Laura Albert, 40, and G. Knoop, 39, were struggling rock musicians. According to the theory, they concocted the Leroy persona -- a former truck stop prostitute turned gritty underground novelist -- "to gain access first to literary circles and, later, to celebrities." When the novels signed by Leroy became underground hits, they needed someone young and androgynous to appear in public, at least occasionally, while simultaneously building the persona of Leroy as a shy recluse -- a shy recluse who loved publicity.

But the most fucked up thing about this whole deal is that when challenged about his/her identity, "Leroy" says the confusion results from the fact that he/she is "transexual." To use this as an excuse for vagueness, diva behavior and outright lying insults and trivializes the experiences of real transexual people.

Previously:
SF Chronicle chimes in on Leroy hoax
NYT and others cancel Leroy pieces after hoax begins to collapse
Article by Stephen Beachy exposes "J.T. Leroy" as hoax

And read: Guardian (UK), 4 Jan 06: Who's That Boy/Girl?

J.T. Leroy, hoaxes, J.T. Leroy hoax, New York Times