Penny Lernoux; Writer on Finance, the Vatican

Penny Lernoux, 49, an author of books on finance and the Vatican and a one-time bureau chief in Latin America for the Copley News Service. A graduate of USC where she was city editor of the Daily Trojan, Miss Lernoux went to Latin America for Copley in 1964 and for the next 10 years reported from such capitals as Caracas, Buenos Aires and Bogota. Later she wrote for national magazines including Harpers, the Nation and the National Catholic Reporter. Her books include “In Banks We Trust,” an examination of weaknesses in the banking industry, “People of God,” about the struggle for world Catholicism, and “South America.” In Mt. Kisco, N.Y. on Sunday of cancer.