Nancy Rommelmann, who really is where she should be all the time, goes further into the never-ending world of JT LeRoy/Laura Albert in the LA Weekly. Rommelmann got an assignment from the LA Times to interview LeRoy, a few years back and there the adventure began.

Rommelmann writes with great compassion and insight but she's clear-eyed about Albert's manipulations, hucksterism and talent. She told FBLA:

In some ways, she's easy to like; she's spouting these platitudes and you're thinking, come on, you know this is bull. Then she gets fiesty, and I liked that. She's also sort of ill-looking; I found myself at one point literally rubbing her hands in mine, because they were purple-gray.

That JT and I had been phone pals; there's just no story there; he had hundreds of phone pals. It was when I found out about the Heights connection--you have no idea how many people Laura and I know in common--that's when I knew, okay, this is my job to do. It was easy not to judge her; harder, was to take all this information and let it find its form. It took a long time, like, five effing months. I have a big thing about wanting not to betray those who've spoken to me. I'm fairly certain Laura won't see it this way, but, I did my best to let her tell me the story as she saw it, and then build into that what I found.

Earlier:
On the Road with Laura Albert & Alan Feuer