WHO WAS THAT MASKED MAN?: The figures behind the JT LeRoy literary hoax are finally fessing up. The New York Times published a piece this morning by Warren St. John, in which one of the key figures behind the LeRoy persona -- which featured a wild and crazy West Virginia backstory of truck stop child prostitution and drug-fueled, cross-gender adventures -- owned up to a hoax with a life of its own:

A central figure in the case of the mysterious writer JT Leroy has come forward to say that no one named JT Leroy exists, and that the books published under that name were actually written by a San Francisco woman named Laura Albert. Geoffrey Knoop, Ms. Albert's partner for the last 16 years, said in a telephone interview on Saturday evening that he had seen Ms. Albert write the books of JT Leroy in their San Francisco apartment. He added that for much of the last decade, he had been present when Ms. Albert conducted telephone conversations as JT Leroy with unwitting editors, writers and celebrities, using the voice of a young man with a West Virginia accent. Ms. Albert, 40, is originally from Brooklyn. "The jig is up," said Mr. Knoop, 39, a rock musician. "I do want to apologize to people who were hurt," he added. "It got to a level I didn't expect."... (snip) Mr. Knoop, whose 25-year-old half sister Savannah Knoop was unmasked by The New York Times last month as the public face of JT Leroy, said that he had come forward out of concern for his son, family members and others affected by what he called an all-consuming web of deceit. He said he and Ms. Albert separated in December, in large part because of stress caused by the deception.

Normally, a good literary hoax is a pleasure to behold. Yet the fabricators have been getting hammered for using the heartbreak and titillation of JT's child abuse, cross-gender and HIV-positive psychodrama to ride the hoax for a decade. They played hard on people's sympathies and wallets -- not to mention their prurient interest and Jesco White "Dancing Outlaw"-style fascination with supposed Appalachian freaks.(See the quotes at the end of performer Ann Magnuson's recent piece for the gazz about being punked by the LeRoy tale.) Two interesting details from the Times story: 'JT' stood for "Jeremy Terminator" as 'Terminator' was the original persona of the hoakster writer. And (hinting at the deeper waters of this deception) Knoop doesn't think Laura Albert could ever admit to her role in the scheme. "For her, it's very personal," he said. "It's not a hoax. It's a part of her." Click here to read the rest of the New York Times story. (Registration required).