Thread 10: To feel disappointed after reading this in The Observer about the author and her husband from The Salt Path book and film?

[DisappointedReader]

The Observer The real Salt Path: how a blockbuster book and film were ...
2nd Observer https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/the-salt-path-whats-in-the-book-and-what-the-observer-has-found
3rd Observer https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/the-salt-path-the-truth-behind-the-blockbuster-book-video
4th Observer ‘I felt I was being gaslit’ – the landlord who helped Ray...
Raynor Winn/Sally Walker's statement Raynor Winn
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New posters welcome. It would be helpful to read at least the four Observer items above before posting. There are currently 10 items on The Observer website The real Salt Path | The Observer

To all - No saltiness. Keep to the path. Please be extremely cautious when it comes to naming or implicating people and addresses not in the public eye or with no direct connection to the story, and around the understandable health speculations, especially where details are unclear or still emerging. Please do not engage with visitors who seem to have their own agenda and seek to derail. Avoid @'ing and quoting them as - from experience - this will only encourage them back to the threads. We have done amazingly well together for nine very interesting, very serious and very silly threads so far. I can't be here as much as I'd like so all help with keeping our discussion walking along in a healthy and civil fashion is very welcome.

Keep calm and eat fudge.

Thank you

Dropping in, hopefully I haven't missed too much. We were temporarily homeless after checking out of our holiday cottage and today I am proud to say we managed to climb Snowdon by getting the train and walking through final few steps to the summit this despite only having a few pounds in my pocket and bank card and credit card for everything else

Sadly we didnt indulge in any petty crime so I can't report on whether fudge bars taste better when stolen

Caught up now ! (I read fast!)

Regarding the expectations for publishers to fact check, I agree this isn't about expecting forensic levels of scrutiny, but I think the bare minimum should be an editor scan for

• does this even make sense ? (The story of the failed investment/court case should have had this alarm flashing wildly. It just didn't ever add up)- some questions should have been asked
• is there obvious embellishment? (The weird massage interlude etc) - if so, at least don't market it as unflinchingly honest.

And the big one for me - is it promoting a miracle cure for a serious/terminal medical condition? if so, then if you can't afford to get it properly checked out by an expert in the field then it doesn't get published. That's just a no brainer. Just as you can't advertise medicines without rigourous testing, you shouldn't be able to sell "miracle cure" books without any oversight from a specialist in that field.

And a final note before I rest my weary body in a hotel bed tent below the shoreline

• I only did the very summit of Snowdon (20 metres or so) with a small bag and a currently very well controlled (through medication) neurological condition and that felt only just about safe and manageable. I can't quite comprehend the stupidity/ plausibility of attempting difficult terrain with a large bag and a desperately severe condition

Oh, @Aspanielstolemysanity you could have come round for a cuppa (bring your own teabag, I'd supply the hot water) - only kidding, you'd have been v welcome! We are pretty close to Yr Wyddfa/Snowdon and can see it from the bottom of the village. Hope you've had a good trip up. The weather has been kind at least. Btw, the best ice-cream in N Wales is Glaslyn Ices in Beddgelert so do try and get there if you can.

I had no idea that The Long Walk had been filmed, @Fandango52 so thanks. Will try and track that down and watch it. I think Ed Harris would be amazing as Mr Smith.

And @DisappointedReader I have been catching up on Tattle tonight, and there are lots of compliments for this thread series on the Secret Celebrity Gossip thread, particularly no 202 <waves at Tattlers> so we are clearly providing a public service 😇

The Salt Path Controversy - a view from Down Under.

The Salt Path Controversy: When Bestselling Memoirs Bend the Truth

Oh lucky you @TonstantWeader even my hard to impress teens were absolutely blown away the beauty and drama of the landscape!

Shame I didn't realise, that would have spared us some wild poos and endless rage at cafe owners...

To be able to sue the publishers would have to show they have suffered some detriment either financially or reputation-wise. PRH have made a shitload of money out of TSP & demonstrating any detriment would be very difficult.

Oh that's a really good article, very wise and balanced.

A really good article - it's a fascinating subject. Most of these writers end up believing their own lies as the only way to keep up the deception. The WalkerWinns could have avoided exposure if they'd kept a low profile after the initial success.

Marking my place,I was very behind,caught up now!!

Oh I don’t think for a moment Penguin will sue; I was just pointing out that all the evidence seems to show that RW was the one in breach of contract here, if she signed contracts to confirm factual accuracy.

A couple of other posters seemed to think this event will be a huge blow to Penguin’s reputation, which would theoretically be a reason for them to take action. I don’t think it will be though.

The best book I've read about child abuse is Catch Me Before I Fall by Rosie Childs: part of the reason I like it is because it doesn't have a nice, neat ending which is realistic and how life is. Best book about psychiatric abuse (it's often hard to separate the 2 and many abused children are often abused within the care system and/or the psychiatric system) is Delivered Unto Lions by David Austin.

Thanks for sharing this. I agree with the others above - it is written very well. I picked up on this in particular:
Broinowski accompanies Norma to Jordan and tries to establish that the story in the book is true, only to be left wondering if she has also been conned by this plausible yet enigmatic woman.
In a historic parallel with the allegations recently made against Raynor Winn, it was revealed that Norma used a nom de plume and had a somewhat chequered past involving financial irregularities.

It reminded me of a parallel with another extract (shared previously):

Jason Isaacs was interviewed on the podcast Kermode and Mayo's Take a month before The Observer article was published. His description of the couple was clearly sincerely felt; he challenged anyone not to fall in love with them. Isaacs was both convinced that the the events described before the walk were true, and that Moth had reversed his CBD (the underlying damage to the brain cannot be reversed).
The Salt Path: a walk without a moral compass

Excellent article.

I think Jason Isaacs and Gillian Anderson got carried away with this especially Isaacs and didn't keep a professional distance. His anger about the 'injustice' done to the WalkerWinns and 'falling in love' with Moth are over the top. The average Briton would puzzle as to how an investment in a friend's business would have a contract making the investors liable for the firm's debts including their home as collateral. I can't understand how this wasn't picked up on by Penguin and the film makers.

This is really true. I am a fan of Jason's and listened to a lot of his TSP promotional interviews but was always a little bit uncomfortable with how gushing he was over them.

Even though I've never read TSP hearing Jason tell aspects of the story didn't make sense to me (I said in a previous thread about how he says RayMoth cannot live in one house for too long because Moths memory will fail if he's not walking) and I don't understand how he could have spend so much time with them and not had questions flag or thought some things don't sound quite right. It's not like he (Jason) is an impressionable young kid, he's in his sixties. So I think either he's not that sharp 😳, really wanted to believe the story or the WalkerWinns have some sort of hypnotic mesmeric effect when in their company being told their "journey".

I expect RW’s only attempt at justification will be (to quote that article) that she has ‘lightly fictionalised a factual story’. Or ‘lightly salted’ maybe!!

Interesting article on pathological liars:

Why Pathological Liars Keep Lying | Psychology Today

I expect RW’s only attempt at justification will be (to quote that article) that she has ‘lightly fictionalised a factual story’. Or ‘lightly salted’ maybe!!

Very good @gattocattivo .

Article in the Press Gazette about the Observer’s expose:
“The initial tip for the story came to Hadjimatheou from a member of the public who’d met the couple – but they had no evidence for their claims.
Hadjimatheou said the story took a long time to come to light because nobody had “asked the right questions” before. When she eventually found a significant source for the story, Hadjimatheou was told her call had been expected “for years”.
“There were rumours swirling round the town, but people didn’t know where to go or who to tell,” she said.”
https://pressgazette.co.uk/publishers/nationals/inside-the-observers-salt-path-investigation-legal-hurdles-ai-book-and-putting-new-version-of-paper-on-the-map/

All Inconsistencies Great & Small (a nod to James Heriot)

• The under the stairs bailiff story.
• The investment in early '90s.
• The debt liabilility for a Ltd Company.
• Being homeless but owning land in France.
• The terminal diagnosis 2 days after eviction.
• The severity of Moth's illness.
• The prognosis of Moth's illness.
• The reversal of Moth's symptoms.
• The trip to Bristol mid walk.
• Moth applying to start uni 2015 not '14 straight after walk.
• TSP being written just for Moth.
• Moth having no idea Ray could write despite How Not to Dal Dy Dir.
• Walking in Iceland much earlier than TWS, which is set up as helping Moth.
• The LL walk as a series of spontaneous stages to assist Moth's symptoms.
• Moth's apparent health improvement in 2021 after walk at the time Bill Cole says Moth was told not to plan for Christmas.
• The level of renovation and rewilding at the apple orchard.
• Moth reported to have a degree in Botany in 2004.
• Simon Armitage.

(NB: Some may be answerable, I'm just laying out the fact they raise doubts without firm evidence to explain them. I may also have missed some smaller ones).

@AldoGordo Fantastic list, thank you for keeping track!

• Moth having no idea Ray could write despite How Not to Dal Dy Dir.

Also TSP winning a debut work award with 10K(?) cash prize, despite How Not to Dal Dy Dir.

The state of the farmhouse in Wales when they bought it in 1992 as described in TSP (p 8- A derelict pile of stones in an isolated spot at the foot of the mountains) v the estate agent particulars of Pen y Maes in 1992.

@AldoGordoi applaud you. That’s a great list

I suppose it should also be added:

• paying back money to Martin Hemmings but without admission of wrongdoing.

I've double-checked my dodgy memory, and it was the RSL Christopher Bland Prize. From their website:

An annual award of £10,000 for a debut novelist or non-fiction writer first published in any form aged 50 or over.

History

The Prize was launched in 2018 and first awarded in 2019, thanks to the generosity of the family and friends of Lady Jennie Bland, in memory of Sir Christopher Bland who died in 2017. Sir Christopher is best known for his leadership in broadcasting, the arts and business. He didn’t start writing until after his retirement publishing two novels to critical acclaim: Ashes in the Wind and Cathar. His play The Easter Rising and Thereafter was staged by the Jermyn Street Theatre in 2016 – 100 years to the day after the uprising in Dublin.

In 2019 'Raynor Winn' was the first recipient, for The Salt Path. I hope someone connected with the RSL considers dusting off the 2019 shortlist and ensuring the other genuinely debut over 50 authors are brought to public attention if they've since fallen by the wayside.