I met Penny Halle at a book signing at Mystery One Bookshop in Milwaukee, I don’t remember the exact date, but it was sometime in 2000. We both went outside for a smoke and started chatting.  Soon Penny and her husband Denny would be at signings with us all the time and joining us afterward for a meal.

To say Penny enjoyed books and reading, mysteries in particular, would be like saying fish enjoy swimming. We had a lot of favorite authors in common. We also shared what we would discover, and the piles of books would grow because of it. I know lot of readers but Penny was consistently in tune with what I liked to read.  Our friendship grew from our love of reading. Soon we met Penny’s son Timm and daughter in law Christy. When we had people over, they were usually the first phone call. Penny made me laugh and we enjoyed her company a lot.

At one point early on in our friendship she reached out and said that the library where she worked was interested in hosting an event with a couple of mystery authors, could I help reach out to a few? And Murder and Mayhem in Muskego was born. The first event was one panel with I think 7 authors. The panel went for about 2 hours. It was enough of a hit that we repeated the event and it grew. Eventually a new library board lost interest and we changed it to Murder and Mayhem in Milwaukee. Over the years we hosted over 100 authors and had a great time. And Penny was a force to be reckoned with. She helped raise thousands of dollars with the auctions at these events benefitting a number of charities.

My favorite part was watching her address the crowds, years of experience as a librarian shining through.

Penny and her family were also a huge help when we ran a couple of Bouchercons.  From filling bookbags to helping with planning and execution.

Penny and her family are part of the family we chose. When we bought our house, she was one of our first phone calls, and she was one of the first through our new front door. I have never met another person who enjoyed watching fireworks the way Penny did, and as a result we invited her to many 3^rd of July parties.  I’m going to miss our phone calls when we would just catch each other up on what we’ve been reading and watching. I’m going to miss her laugh. I’m going to miss going to bookstores with her while we laughed and went way over budget. Penny was part of over 25 years of adventures we may never have had without her, and they were always fun.

To me Penny was a lot of things. A champion for reading and for authors she loved. An amazing mother and nana. But to me Penny was and will always be one of my best friends. Penny made my life better by being a part of it.