How can one implement OO in Lua?

The approach I use usually goes like this:

class = {} -- Will remain empty as class
mt = {} -- Will contain everything the instances will contain _by default_

mt.new = function(self,foo)
    local inst={}
    if type(foo) == "table" then
         for k,v in pairs(foo) do
             inst[k]=v
         end
    else
        inst.foo=foo
    end
    return setmetatable(inst,getmetatable(class))
end

mt.print = function(self)
    print("My foo is ",self.foo)
end

mt.foo= 4 --standard foo

mt.__index=mt -- Look up all inexistent indices in the metatable

setmetatable(class,mt)

i1=class:new() -- use default foo
i1:print()

i2=class:new(42)
i2:print()

i3=class:new{foo=123,print=function(self) print("Fancy printing my foo:",self.foo) end}

Well, conclusion: with metatables and some clever thinking, about anything is possible: metatables are the REAL magic when working with classes.