Yes it is CALT as I guess you should know if you have read his book(s).
He contributed sleeve notes to a number of Belzona/Yazoo albums over the years mostly not of great ineterest if you did not play a guitar. I believe his last book before his demise was the very useful reference book "Barrelhouse Words". He also c0-authered a book on Charlie Patton.

Re the man Skip James I had the pleasure of meeting him very briefly and found him to be a pleasant and polite man.

If Skip was "talking bollocks" it is not surprising. The man during his "rediscovery" period was suffering from cancer and often in great discomfort. How do you think he felt when he was constantly pestered by young guys wanting to interrogate him about his life and music. I have met a number of bluesmen over the years and I am sure that many of them enjoyed having a quiet laugh at our expense. I remember in conversation with Willie Dixon and Memphis Slim at one time Slim turned to Willie and laughingly said "You know all blues men are liars except you and me, and sometimes I ain't so sure about you".

If Skip had been a violent man then he was not alone among blues men. Trying to survive down south was never easy believe it or not.