Philip was a publisher with an excellent nose for a commercial title. He was hilariously irrerevant, opinionated and a great oberver of human foibles. He was my boss from 1984-1990 and he taught me a lot. I appreciated the trust he placed in me as a young sales manager and the freedom he gave me to contribute to the business in ways that I would never have been able to in a large corporation at that stage of my career. He introduced me to the IPG and to the entrepreneurial, sometimes Dickensian, characters who ran publishing houses that PK affectionately called "The Daft Bugger Press" , with a preference for obscure subjects and niche markets. There was nothing mainstream or slick about Philip. He was always honest and forthright and it was a privilege to be part of the Kogan Page story. Philip was rightly proud of his family and frequently invited us to his home in Kentish Town for dinners and parties. I know he was keen to keep KP in the family and it is a great tribute to his passion for publishing that he resisted the many buy-out offers he received in the 1980's and that Helen is now running the family business.