Guest, you will notice that O.Z. always tries to take a discussion away from the original question, complaining about the word basic (or plain, simple, standard, ordinary, unadulterated) and then confusing Fan with 'fan position' and going on about alemana, hockey stick etc, and referring to the lady's swivel on 4,1 of the previous bar which does not apply to a "basic" Fan. If you read through the forum you will note his distinctive style appears under several nom-de-plumes.
Re the Backward Walk Turning, please see man's step 3 (lady's step 6) of the basic movement.
Laird is AFAIK unique in the use of "action used" and although it can be useful IMHO it can also lead to confusion as in this case.
In my 1988 edition Laird starts the figure in close hold.
Step 1 has the lady LF fwd in (line with partner) so on step 2 the man's LF will obstruct any forward movement so she cannot take a FWT but must step to the side at least or, subject to body turn, step back as described in the ISTD book. On this site Jonathan says "Right foot back and slightly to side." which tallies with Laird's foot position.
But! Laird also allows for a precede of 'Fwd walks in Shadow Pos'. From this position the lady will use a FWT as well as making additional turn.