MAILBAG:

Tom Johnson’s departure from the Daily Pilot saddens me very much.

Johnson embodies all of the true journalistic values that have been missing in the last 10 years regarding reporting by other major newspapers. He is what this country needs now at this time in history. My professors in college said that in order to come to an informed conclusion about something, you need to read newspapers and magazines, and listen to radio and TV news reporting.

I am very well read and informed about many issues thanks to that advice and to the journalists who actually are journalists. The Los Angeles Times and Daily Pilot are world-class newspapers that seem to be losing ground because of the “Zell” approach to business.

It is distressing to me to see these fine newspapers being dismantled.

I met Johnson some years back when I went to the Daily Pilot’s old office to pick up some issues. I introduced myself and told him I admired the reporting of his journalists. Even though I disagreed with many articles, I enjoyed the fabulous reporting, and I knew Johnson had been involved in that fair reporting.

I am sorry to see Johnson go, and I wish him the very best in the future. He is a gem worth keeping. Sorry, Sam, you lost!

PEGGY CALHOUN

Newport Beach

Mediation helps curb unwarranted lawsuits

I appreciate Judge James Gray’s editorial on our system of justice (“Reducing the costs of litigation,” Aug. 3).

I would only add that some of the excessive costs are from outright abuses by a number of unscrupulous attorneys. We need tort reform that puts limits on outrageous jury awards. We need laws curbing unwarranted class-action lawsuits, and we need to protect hardworking businesses from the abuses of a “cottage industry” of attorneys who find loopholes in the law to use lawsuits when no one was harmed.

I applaud Gray’s discussion of “mediation” as part of the answer. Traditional lawsuits are about a “winner” and a “loser.” Mediation is about solving a problem while respecting both sides.

Maryann Maloney

Newport Beach

The poor don’t create slums: Slumlords do

In regard to the comments you published about slums from a reader:

I would like to point out that slums are not created by poor people nor are they created by people in the country without the proper papers.

Slums are created by slumlords.

These people care nothing about the cities their properties are in and even less about the people who inhabit them.

Jack Perkins

Costa Mesa