A friend and mentor of mine, Lou Carlozo, was laid off from The Chicago Tribune last week. Ironically, his blog was entitled “The Recession Diaries,” for which Lou was asked to document how the economic slump impacted he and his family. His last blog post, an eloquent goodbye (with no agenda, it seems to me), was removed by the Trib.

So far, Lou’s been able to handle his job loss with a sense of humor — although I do feel sorry for the circulation guy he tangled with when Lou tried to cancel his Trib subscription.

Lou has written me many a letter of recommendation, which makes me forever indebted to him, but since his general demeanor is one of warmth, goofiness and general joie de vivre, my desire to support him comes before all that. Give his stuff a read. I’m sure you’ll find that same likability.