Instead of discarding her pseudonym and exposing herself in order to remind the public that LeRoy's story, though published as fiction, was not in fact, a memoir, Laura Albert chose her sister-in-law, Savannah Knoop, a 25-year-old aspiring clothes designer, to embody the pseudonym in public. In 2001, a person claiming to be LeRoy began appearing in public, usually decked out in wigs and sunglasses". Thereafter, the persona of JT LeRoy took on a public life of its own with a backstory that echoed the settings and events described in the books. Savannah Knoop as JT LeRoy, wore wigs and sunglasses, and was often accompanied by Laura Albert as her roommate, called Speedie/Emily Frasier, and Geoffrey Knoop, called Astor.