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Thread 17: To feel disappointed after reading this in The Observer about the author and her husband from The Salt Path book and film?

1000 replies

DisappointedReader · 02/09/2025 13:42

The Observer's original exposé: The real Salt Path: how a blockbuster book and film were ...
The 14 Observer items currently available on their online 'The real Salt Path' page: The real Salt Path | The Observer
More from The Observer:
‘Hope is extinguished’: CBD patients respond to Salt Path...
The real Salt Path | The Observer (The Slow Newscast)
Links to more Observer videos can be found in an early post of this new thread and here: Observer YouTube Channel: The Observer UK - YouTube
Working timeline and references: can be found in early posts of this new Thread 17.
Raynor Winn/Sally Walker's statement: Raynor Winn
Thread One ^www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5368194-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?^
Threads 2-11: Links all in the OP of Thread 12
Thread 12: www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5384574-thread-12-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?
Threads 13-14: Links in the OP of Thread 15
Thread 15:Thread 15: To feel disappointed after reading this in The Observer about the author and her husband from The Salt Path book and film? | Mumsnet
Thread 16: https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/am_i_being_unreasonable/5395002-thread-16-to-feel-disappointed-after-reading-this-in-the-observer-about-the-author-and-her-husband-from-the-salt-path-book-and-film?

New posters joining us in the genuine spirit of our civil discourse are welcome. It would be helpful to get the background from at least some of the Observer items above before posting.
To all - 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. Remember, even Hollywood rabbits attract the odd flea. 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 sixteen 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 our usual reasonable and respectful fashion is very welcome.

Yes, it really is Thread 17. I'm as in need of smelling salts as the next person.

We seek them here, we seek them there, mumsnetters seek them everywhere: just where are the elusive How not to Dal dy Dir and On Winter Hill?

#handwavium #appropriation

Keep to the path. No saltiness. May the fudge be with you.

The real Salt Path: how a blockbuster book and film were ...

The real Salt Path: how a blockbuster book and film were ...

Penniless and homeless, the Winns found fame and fortune with the story of their 630-mile walk to salvation. We can reveal that the truth behind it is ve...

https://observer.co.uk/news/national/article/the-real-salt-path-how-the-couple-behind-a-bestseller-left-a-trail-of-debt-and-deceit

OP posts:
Thread gallery
37
Peladon · 02/10/2025 01:20

If you could ask Thr Big Issue any question about the article, what would it be?

Vroomfondleswaistcoat · 02/10/2025 08:18

SimoArmo · 01/10/2025 22:43

This is one reason why I always felt this was all a PR stunt with the help of an agent and/or PRH already in place pre-Big Issue. It would explain the rather hard-to-believe timeframe of how a book by a debut author was written in 6 months (as alleged by RW stating she started in late 2016 and had LSB finished in May 2017) and then finding agent, publisher and all the work needed to publish in just 7-8 months. The explanation being, it took a lot longer with an agent's and/or PRH help.

Edited

And that, of course, raises the slightly paranoid possibility that 'Sally Walker' isn't real either and that this WHOLE THING is a publicity stunt for a further venture...

HatStickBoots · 02/10/2025 08:32

LetsBeSensible · 01/10/2025 21:00

I know they had to leave their house at some point, what year was it? Had we established where they were between eviction and 2015 SWCP walk?

I just feel like SalRay somehow hijacked the Aussie couple’s backstory even though both couples were technically homeless, the “F- it, we will live in a van, house sit and walk round Cornwall” can-do attitude of David and Joanne seems more like the positive, adventurous, backstory that glumwashing SalRay wanted.

They walked in 2013 and the doctor’s letter about the diagnosis is dated 2015.
(I’m checking back at the timeline because I’m forgetting the details!)
Fact and fiction is still a bit muddled in my mind.

HatStickBoots · 02/10/2025 09:06

I don’t think there’s any evidence of where they stayed prior to walking in 2013, only the account in TSP, unfortunately.

Pissenlit · 02/10/2025 09:38

Vroomfondleswaistcoat · 02/10/2025 08:18

And that, of course, raises the slightly paranoid possibility that 'Sally Walker' isn't real either and that this WHOLE THING is a publicity stunt for a further venture...

Like JT Leroy? (Who, as some people will remember, was a reclusive US author hugely in vogue in the 90s, who wrote semi-autobiographical novels about his supposedly poor, abusive past as the son of a truckstop prostitute, and who turned out to be the fictional creation of a woman called Laura Albert, whose sister in law ‘played’ JT Leroy in interviews in a wig and dark glasses after a decade in which no one had ever seen the supposedly pathologically shy author in the flesh. Until journalists started poking around and pointing out factual discrepancies, and no one in the bit of LA where JT Leroy claimed to have been a teenage prostitute and heroin addict had any memory of him.)

Actually, from what I remember, LA ended up in a fraud case for having signed a movie option deal using her pseudonym, and she lost.

Perhaps ‘Sally and Tim Walker’ is a double fictional persona (invented by Dave and Julie, or SA, or ‘Polly’, or the Walker children, or the brother with the chateau.) And the woman we see on the Insta feed, doing press, performing with Gigspanner etc is an out of work actor. Likewise Tim-Moth, who was picked up by someone who heard him telling tall tales on a building site. 😀

HatStickBoots · 02/10/2025 10:40

🤯 😭🫣

SimoArmo · 02/10/2025 12:12

Freshsocks · 01/10/2025 23:20

I think you are right @SimoArmo that would explain why the Big issue didn't investigate, they would have felt everything was above board if Salray already had people.

And also the fact she joined IG in 2016 yet IIRC she claimed she only joined social media and had no idea how to use it until after her agent suggested she create an online presence. Maybe i'm misremembering that though. I need some noodles and fudge to give me energy to find where I might have read/heard that.

HatStickBoots · 02/10/2025 13:12

SimoArmo · 02/10/2025 12:12

And also the fact she joined IG in 2016 yet IIRC she claimed she only joined social media and had no idea how to use it until after her agent suggested she create an online presence. Maybe i'm misremembering that though. I need some noodles and fudge to give me energy to find where I might have read/heard that.

That’s right, yes. I think Sally is pretty savvy but poor ol’ Ray really struggles with anything Internet based, poor love… gets violins out.

DisappointedReader · 02/10/2025 13:17

SimoArmo · 02/10/2025 12:12

And also the fact she joined IG in 2016 yet IIRC she claimed she only joined social media and had no idea how to use it until after her agent suggested she create an online presence. Maybe i'm misremembering that though. I need some noodles and fudge to give me energy to find where I might have read/heard that.

I can also remember this claim, albeit with a similar lack of carbohydrates and sugar here, although the day is still young.

I have sometimes thought that I should be sending out supply parcels to our Correspondents.

Afternoon all. I hope you are well today.

OP posts:
HatStickBoots · 02/10/2025 13:22

Good to see you @DisappointedReader !

Pissenlit · 02/10/2025 13:24

HatStickBoots · 02/10/2025 13:12

That’s right, yes. I think Sally is pretty savvy but poor ol’ Ray really struggles with anything Internet based, poor love… gets violins out.

Well, there’s a (to me rather unconvincing) scene in TWS where she claims not to understand how Twitter works, and TW says phones are only for calls or texts as far as he’s concerned, and their son has to explain. I think it’s a kind of ‘meet cute’ backstory about how her adorable, unworldly naivety about tech bring them into contact with fanboy Bill Cole, the pirate cider farmer.

Catwith69lives · 02/10/2025 13:28

Is there mention in TWS about what Dave and Julie do/did, what their interests are etc? I think someone mentioned that Julie might have been a counsellor.

Uricon2 · 02/10/2025 13:33

(Passes @DisappointedReader fudge and cider)

DisappointedReader · 02/10/2025 13:34

HatStickBoots · 02/10/2025 13:22

Good to see you @DisappointedReader !

Thank you! These days it would be good to see myself sometimes @HatStickBoots! I'm still here with you all though, still reading and nodding along even when I don't get the chance to post.

OP posts:
ShrinkWrappedInSeattle · 02/10/2025 13:34

Catwith69lives · 02/10/2025 13:28

Is there mention in TWS about what Dave and Julie do/did, what their interests are etc? I think someone mentioned that Julie might have been a counsellor.

In LL SalRay says Julie is a counsellor (a while back I searched some of the key counselling directories to see if I could find her but nothing quite matched with the photos on IG)

DisappointedReader · 02/10/2025 13:38

Uricon2 · 02/10/2025 13:33

(Passes @DisappointedReader fudge and cider)

Thank you! Just what I needed @Uricon2! I should pop up more often!

OP posts:
LetsBeSensible · 02/10/2025 14:47

Not to confuse Dave, like and Julie the possible councillor with David and Joanne the UK born Australian based couple who didn’t stay in B&Bs and worry about having her roots done.

Vroomfondleswaistcoat · 02/10/2025 14:58

Pissenlit · 02/10/2025 09:38

Like JT Leroy? (Who, as some people will remember, was a reclusive US author hugely in vogue in the 90s, who wrote semi-autobiographical novels about his supposedly poor, abusive past as the son of a truckstop prostitute, and who turned out to be the fictional creation of a woman called Laura Albert, whose sister in law ‘played’ JT Leroy in interviews in a wig and dark glasses after a decade in which no one had ever seen the supposedly pathologically shy author in the flesh. Until journalists started poking around and pointing out factual discrepancies, and no one in the bit of LA where JT Leroy claimed to have been a teenage prostitute and heroin addict had any memory of him.)

Actually, from what I remember, LA ended up in a fraud case for having signed a movie option deal using her pseudonym, and she lost.

Perhaps ‘Sally and Tim Walker’ is a double fictional persona (invented by Dave and Julie, or SA, or ‘Polly’, or the Walker children, or the brother with the chateau.) And the woman we see on the Insta feed, doing press, performing with Gigspanner etc is an out of work actor. Likewise Tim-Moth, who was picked up by someone who heard him telling tall tales on a building site. 😀

Edited

I was thinking more along the lines of the person claiming to be Raynor (or Sally) is real, but that she was given TSP to write in a Raynor persona. She then writes the two follow ups (which she's been given in outline). The whole 'embezzlement' backstory is fake (which would mean that Ros Hemings would also be a plant), as are the stories told by others who have encountered SalRay in the past.

Reputations trashed.

Two (or three, I haven't decided yet) years pass and then SalRay comes out of the woodwork with an EXPLOSIVE new book (nature based, obvs) which lifts the lid on crooked practices among agents/editors who will do ANYTHING to raise the profiles of their authors, including besmurching their name in the interests of profit-chasing. She might, possibly, be walking Offa's Dyke as she muses on how she was used and her name dragged through the mud in the interestes of Making A Proft for Crooked Publishers. Tim tells how he had to pretend to be ill, to the extent of faking symptoms for Jason Isaacs - actually thinking about it, the title Faking Symptoms For Jason Isaacs might make a good title for the new book.

Film rights available from me.

Or I might be running ahead of my own paranoia here.

Freshsocks · 02/10/2025 14:58

I know what you mean @DisappointedReader I am scurrying along behind following the scent of fudge and cider and reading the posts when I can. I found a Julie that I thought might be likely @ShrinkWrappedInSeattle I could send you a pp with the name and maybe you can look at their X or Instagram, I don't have these so I haven't been able to look any further, it's probably a wild goose chase and they might be a Julie you have already eliminated.

Peladon · 02/10/2025 15:14

This group could produce an annotated edition of TSP, identifying inconsistencies, inaccuracies and other points of legitimate interest. I'm sure the annotations would be far longer than the book itself.

ShrinkWrappedInSeattle · 02/10/2025 15:22

@Freshsocks Yes - do - I’ll take a look

RainyTuesdaysAndSunnyWednesdays · 02/10/2025 17:27

Vroomfondleswaistcoat · 02/10/2025 14:58

I was thinking more along the lines of the person claiming to be Raynor (or Sally) is real, but that she was given TSP to write in a Raynor persona. She then writes the two follow ups (which she's been given in outline). The whole 'embezzlement' backstory is fake (which would mean that Ros Hemings would also be a plant), as are the stories told by others who have encountered SalRay in the past.

Reputations trashed.

Two (or three, I haven't decided yet) years pass and then SalRay comes out of the woodwork with an EXPLOSIVE new book (nature based, obvs) which lifts the lid on crooked practices among agents/editors who will do ANYTHING to raise the profiles of their authors, including besmurching their name in the interests of profit-chasing. She might, possibly, be walking Offa's Dyke as she muses on how she was used and her name dragged through the mud in the interestes of Making A Proft for Crooked Publishers. Tim tells how he had to pretend to be ill, to the extent of faking symptoms for Jason Isaacs - actually thinking about it, the title Faking Symptoms For Jason Isaacs might make a good title for the new book.

Film rights available from me.

Or I might be running ahead of my own paranoia here.

And this woman's name is Izzy Wynn-Davies

Vroomfondleswaistcoat · 02/10/2025 17:35

RainyTuesdaysAndSunnyWednesdays · 02/10/2025 17:27

And this woman's name is Izzy Wynn-Davies

Thank you - I am now reassured that I have company in my madness...😀

Uricon2 · 02/10/2025 17:43

@Vroomfondleswaistcoat I have considered whether it is all an elaborate and unlikely piece of performance art because TBH some of it has been so outrageous since the curtain fell and the Wizard was revealed, it seems almost possible.

RainyTuesdaysAndSunnyWednesdays · 02/10/2025 18:03

Vroomfondleswaistcoat · 02/10/2025 17:35

Thank you - I am now reassured that I have company in my madness...😀

We are just one happy band of obsessive, nit-picking, honesty-seeking, truth-finding eccentrics. 😀

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