Tuesday, November 28, 2006

BACK IN FASHION / Savannah Knoop has survived the JT Leroy scandal and is trying her hand at a new career:

Knoop was paid for her impersonations of LeRoy in wigs and sunglasses, which allowed her to quit her waitress job. For six years, the charade went on -- until this January, when writer Laura Albert was outed as the author. Albert's former partner, Geoffrey Knoop, is Savannah Knoop's half brother.

"It was a relief when it was over,'' says Knoop, 25, with considerable understatement, about the controversy.

These days, she is out of the literary limelight and back pocketing tips on the night shift at Soi 4, a Thai restaurant in Oakland's Rockridge district. Her customers would no doubt be shocked to learn about the entry on her in Wikipedia, the online encyclopedia, for playing LeRoy.