'JT LeRoy' is Laura Albert - It is Confirmed Now
Kim Curtis
Associated Press
Seattle Post Intelligencer
_________________
San Francisco, California (US):
One of publishing's most bizarre mysteries appears to finally have been solved.The writer penning the novels of "JT LeRoy," a purported 25-year-old former male prostitute and drug addict, has been unmasked as a 40-year-old woman who allegedly undertook the ruse to get her work recognized.
LeRoy never existed and Laura Albert authored the books, her estranged partner, Geoffrey Knoop, told The New York Times in a story published Monday on its Web site. Knoop, who apologized for playing a role in the hoax, said the stress of keeping it secret had become too much to bear.
The couple split in December after 16 years and were fighting over custody of their young son."It got to a level I didn't expect," Knoop, 39, said. "If you're feeling more and more suffocated by the complications and lies, it's not worth it."
The LeRoy mystery began unraveling with an article in New York Magazine last fall pointing toward Albert, who claimed to have rescued LeRoy from the streets and started him on his literary career. Then last month a story in the Times identified the person who often appeared in public as LeRoy as Knoop's half sister, Savannah Knoop, 25.
Feb 07, 2006
Kim Curtis
Associated Press
Seattle Post Intelligencer
_________________
San Francisco, California (US):
One of publishing's most bizarre mysteries appears to finally have been solved.The writer penning the novels of "JT LeRoy," a purported 25-year-old former male prostitute and drug addict, has been unmasked as a 40-year-old woman who allegedly undertook the ruse to get her work recognized.
LeRoy never existed and Laura Albert authored the books, her estranged partner, Geoffrey Knoop, told The New York Times in a story published Monday on its Web site. Knoop, who apologized for playing a role in the hoax, said the stress of keeping it secret had become too much to bear.
The couple split in December after 16 years and were fighting over custody of their young son."It got to a level I didn't expect," Knoop, 39, said. "If you're feeling more and more suffocated by the complications and lies, it's not worth it."
The LeRoy mystery began unraveling with an article in New York Magazine last fall pointing toward Albert, who claimed to have rescued LeRoy from the streets and started him on his literary career. Then last month a story in the Times identified the person who often appeared in public as LeRoy as Knoop's half sister, Savannah Knoop, 25.
Feb 07, 2006
