JT Leroy, 2006 News

writer, was exposed as a fake during the winter. Leroy's critically acclaimed semi-autobiographical books, The Heart Is Deceitful Above All Things and Sarah, chronicled the life of a repeatedly abused West Virginia teenager who travels to San Francisco, becomes a prostitute and drug addict, and gets infected with HIV. Leroy's hardscrabble life and redemption as a writer attracted the attention and affection of celebrities. Laura Albert and Geoffrey Knoop, a couple from San Francisco, said they rescued the boy and encouraged him to write. Leroy's agent, however, confirmed in January that the person who has claimed to be Leroy is actually Savannah Knoop, Geoffrey's half sister. Many people believe that Albert created the Leroy character and wrote the books and articles credited to Leroy.