Penny Campbell

A common phrase heard around TIME's editorial offices in London, especially late on Saturday nights when we were frantically trying to close the magazine, was: "Ask Penny." Penny Campbell, who died unexpectedly last week, was our very own walking encyclopedia. Whatever information you needed — whether it was pointers on an arcane aspect of TIME style, the current status of some attempted coup or the latest scrap of office gossip — Penny knew. And she would happily tell you, too, over a steaming cup of organic Earl Grey tea and a chocolate biscuit.

In Hong Kong, where Penny...