Fact or Fiction? The Salt Path’s Rocky Road to Credibility

The Salt Path

On 7th July, BBC News posted an article about Raynor Winn, author of ‘The Salt Path’ defending herself against claims she had misled readers.

An investigation undertaken by The Observer newspaper suggested that some of Winn’s claims about her husband’s illness and the events that led to the couple losing their home were misrepresented.

The investigation claims that Winn and her husband lost their home after Winn defrauded her employer of £64,000, and not via a bad business deal, as she originally suggested.

The Observer reported that Raynor and Moth Winn are not the couple’s real names.

It also said it had spoken to medical experts who were sceptical about Moth having corticobasal degeneration (CBD), given his long survival after diagnosis amongst other things.

Following the publication of the article, the charity PSPA, which supports people with CBD said it had ‘made the decision to terminate their relationship with the family’ as ‘too many questions remain unanswered’.

In response, Winn described the article as ‘highly misleading’ and that the book was ‘the true story of our journey’.

In saying the article was ‘highly misleading’, we note that she does not say that it was untrue, deceptive or a lie. It would be helpful to know, from her perspective; which parts of the article were ‘highly misleading’.

These are serious accusations and the expected is for a strong denial to be given. If true, it is easy to say, ‘I did not defraud my employer’, ‘Our names are Raynor and Moss Winn’ and ‘Moth does have CBD’.

In adding that the book was ‘the true story of our journey’, we would want to know when the ‘journey’ began for her?

Subsequently, Winn has withdrawn from the scheduled Saltlines Tour where she would have performed readings from the book. Her legal team gave a statement which said in part that ‘whilst this process is ongoing, she will be unable to take part’.

If everything which has been written in the Salt Path is true, what prevents the tour from going ahead?

Number 9 films and Shadowplay Features, who made the movie adaptation of the book, said, ‘...we undertook all necessary due diligence before acquiring the book’.

Better to say, ‘we undertook all due diligence before acquiring the book’. Which element of due diligence was unnecessary?

The statement released on behalf of Winn noted, ‘The Salt Path lays bare the physical and spiritual journey Moth and I shared...’ Whilst likely a truthful statement, at what point did the ‘physical and spiritual journey’ begin? Was it when they started their travels which followed the loss of their home?

A grain of truth or a whole shaker of fiction?

Reference: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/cm2z0707mlgo

All blog subjects are identified, validated and written by the DDL Team. See www.ddlltd.com for more on Deception Detection Lab Ltd.