Comments | the_doves_diner: SO THEN

salsburysteakjr in the_doves_diner

SO THEN

Jun 08, 2006 03:19

Okay. Please, I would like ONLY THOSE who know factually what I'm going to ask. Even if the factual answer is, "nobody can be 100% sure", that is fine. Gossip seems to be the flood drowning most of any truth to either sides angle on the story, so please lets have us a very intellectual conversation full of what we DO know and nothing more ( Read more... )

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_cherryvanilla_ June 8 2006, 11:54:30 UTC

As far as I know, it's now 100% certain that Laura Albert wrote the JT Leroy books and that the person posing as JT in public was her sister-in-law. Geoffrey Knoop (Laura's ex-partner, Thor's father and the brother of the "public" JT) confirmed this in an interview with the New York Times.

I haven't seen 'The Heart..' DVD so I don't know what the interview contains.

I read months ago that somebody is making a documentary on JT (they had been doing so before the big scandal broke, and are continuing). Dennis Cooper has been interviewed for it, amongst others. Don't know when/if it will be released.

salsburysteakjr June 8 2006, 12:03:40 UTC

See I am not so 100% convinced despite all the evidence to prove so, simply for all those people claiming to have spent so much intimate time with JT, people like the lead singer of Garbage, who as far as I can tell has not much to gain from lying about it. Even Tom Waits seems to think he exists. Tom's no fool. Did he meet the phony JT? I just don't know. To top it off, they're STILL going along pretending he DOES exist, because recently JT showed up at a book place reading parts of Harold's End ( ... )

_cherryvanilla_ June 8 2006, 12:22:35 UTC

Well, I guess everyone has a different perspective on it. I haven't read much about it in the last few months so I don't know what Shirley Manson or Tom Waits are saying (if they're saying anything at all). I'm shocked to hear that JT turned up for a reading - when was this?

I'm totally convinced that Laura wrote the books, there's no doubt in my mind. Final proof for me was when people who were certainly NOT opposed to JT as a writer - people who worked for him, supported him, spent a lot of time with him, believed in "him" even when bombarded with evidence to the contrary - eventually accepted that Laura wrote the books. They knew Laura too and stuck up for her when the shit hit the fan, so it's not as if they have anything to gain from lying either. I just don't think anyone can deny that JT Leroy is a character any longer.

The worth of the books, as you say, is another issue. I still stand by their worth, regardless of their author.

salsburysteakjr June 8 2006, 12:43:35 UTC

Shirley and Tom are two of the many people who have spoken out in defense of his existance. I poked around online for a day just hunting whatever I could down, a lot of the quotes come, if you'd like to just look from one source, the journal Leroy has kept for the last few years online. It has links to official quotes from a number of celebrities and others who say he's slept on their couch, eaten their food, watched their tv, etc.

If you type in JT Leroy on google and hunt down images, you'll find one of him beside Asia, giving a reading from Harold's End.

As of right now even if you are correct and he is a fictional creation, I think "I just don't think anyone can deny that JT Leroy is a character any longer." is a little brash to be saying so bluntly when the evidence on either side isn't 100% conclusive. I'd say there are so few FACTS that it's still really a matter of opinion.

_cherryvanilla_ June 8 2006, 12:58:26 UTC

Well, as I said, everyone has their own perspective, and mine is that it can't be denied that JT is a character. I think when one of the three people involved in "JT Leroy" (i.e. Geoffrey/Astor) gives an interview and confirms that his partner wrote all the books and his sister posed as JT, it's about as much confirmation as I need. Presumably you've seen the photo of Savannah Knoop (Geoffrey's sister) that was online? It's "JT". I went to a JT Leroy reading. I shook "his" hand. I hate to think that I was misled, but when I saw the photo of Savannah Knoop, I knew that was the person who's hand I shook. That, to me, is a fact ( ... )

_cherryvanilla_ June 8 2006, 13:06:58 UTC

"If you type in JT Leroy on google and hunt down images, you'll find one of him beside Asia, giving a reading from Harold's End"

I presume you mean an old photo from 2005? The Harold's End readings happened in the most part before the hoax story broke. Asia read with him lots of times - she presented "The Heart.." at the London Gay & Lesbian Film Festival in April 2005, following a Harold's End reading. I was there. It doesn't really mean anything to me in terms of her supporting him as the author of his books since the scandal broke.

This is the photo of Savannah Knoop I referred to:
http://www.sfist.com/attachments/sfist_eve/leroy-face.jpg

salsburysteakjr June 8 2006, 13:19:00 UTC

Ehh, I wish I was at my work computer so that I could go to the places I did with the work computer's cable modem and not my 56k connection. Shirley was the one who went out of her way to say how she'd held his hand, spent late nights hugging and crying with him, etc etc all sorts of things I'd find it odd a phony would go along with. So either that phony is this great an actor or Manson is lying for some god knows reason. Along with the others who say they speak with him over the phone and have had meals with him every night for weeks, discussing life and all that jazz. A bunch a quotes of that ilk I keep reading, and it just comes down to either they're all lying for the sake of I don't know what, or he does exist. Or the actor playing him so regularly deserves an oscar by now ( ... )

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