Dear Eric: A good friend asked me for a letter of recommendation. I wrote something short (less than a page) that I thought was truthful and adequate and inserted my name in the signature block but did not sign it.

I told him he could edit it, expecting he would send me the edited version. He then added text about projects we’d worked on together, plus awards he’d gotten and been nominated for.

The day of the application deadline, I wrote him for the edited version and learned that he’d submitted it. I replied that I’d have to notify the chair of the hiring committee that I had not approved the letter. He responded immediately, offering to withdraw it, and I told him to do that.

A few days later, I wrote a message in which I tried to explain why he jeopardized professional and personal

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