A fly fisher for more than forty years and avid conservationist, Lou was born in the Frankford section of Philadelphia to working-class parents who never completed high school. He was the first of his family to receive a high school diploma, the first to attain a bachelor's degree (B.A. History), and the only member of his family with a master's degree (M.Ed.). Having been awarded Member Conservationist of the Year in 2004 by the Pennsylvania Council of Trout Unlimited, he engages in a gratifying dalliance with the creative spirit through writing. His fiction, non-fiction, and haiku have appeared in the Susquehanna River Journal, PA Trout Newsletter (back page column contributor under the nom de plume Iwaak Zalton), Pennsylvania Angler, Rural Roads (regular contributor), Permafrost, PA Flyfish (website), and Fly Anglers Online (website). He currently resides in Eugene, Oregon.