It was one of those Southern California days - unbearably hot. JOAN NOONE, looking much cooler than she felt, managed to ignore the heat as she warmed to her favorite subject - family. She adores them utterly and completely. "I lavish them with love," Mrs. Noone said, her young face mirroring pride and joy. "Love never spoiled any child; it makes them grow into beautiful human beings."
     Mrs. Noone was enjoying herself immensely as she talked about her son, PETER BLAIR DENIS BERNARD NOONE, better known as HERMAN of HERMAN'S HERMITS fame.
      Mrs. Noone's fair-haired son has twinkling blue eyes, stands 5 feet, 9 inches and weighs 136 pounds. He was born on November 5, 1947 in Manchester, England. "From the time he was a little tot," Mrs. Noone said, "Peter loved to perform."
     "As I told you," she smiled, "he could always twist me around his little finger. He'd always call me when he was in trouble. Oh, nothing serious, of course, but little things.
     "One day, for instance, Peter was leaving the school grounds during mid-day, and you can't do that in England. One day he left the school but I found out later that he had pulled this stunt rather regularly, to go to the chip shop. I was again called to get him and take him back to school. . .We certainly had a time with him for a while," she sighed.
     "You know, of course, that Peter did Television when he was only eleven. He was doing a series at the time when he started the singing group. Since he wanted to leave the show after several years of TV, they had to change the script so Peter could leave without the story being too involved. He'd probably be an actor today if the studio didn't agree to do this.
     "Peter is looking to buy a hotel for us in England. As yet we haven't found what we want, but have people looking for us. It's difficult to find the exact type of hotel that will meet our requirements. Since a fine hotel costs about $115,000 we have to be exceedingly careful.
     "Despite his youth, Peter has a marvelous business head. He knows the importance of investments," Mrs. Noone's voice seemed to say, "He is a rare boy, indeed," That he is.
     I asked the lovely Mrs. Noone, soon to become a mother again, if Peter ever ran away from home. "Certainly not," she answered, "But one day when he was ten, he woke very early on a particular Saturday while the rest of the family was still sleeping, and disappeared. When his father and I awoke, we discovered the empty bed, and couldn't imagine where Peter had gone. We were simply frantic. I had all kinds of visions that he had been run over by a train, or automobile, or something! We thought all sorts of things. We had the police looking for him and everyone in the house was very worried. I just couldn't keep from biting my fingernails, I was so nervous.

     "He didn't leave a note or anything. We simply didn't have a clue to where he had gone - or why. When he finally returned Sunday night he told us he had been to York, which is about 100 miles from where we lived.
     "What was he doing 100 miles from home? He was train spotting, taking pictures and making notes.
     "And what do you think I did when he did return? Perhaps I should have spanked him, but I couldn't, because I was so relieved to see him. . .I just took him in my arms and loved him.
     "I asked him why he didn't ask our permission and he said he had thought about the trip for so long, and wanted to go so badly that if he asked and we had turned him down he would have been heartbroken. So he just went without telling us. That way, he didn't give us the opportunity of saying no.
     "When Peter first started singing with the group, he wanted an echo chamber. Well, he was so clever that he had me buying the chamber and his sister, DENISE, buying him a mike. Denise didn't know that I was buying the echo chamber and I, of course, didn't know that she was buying the mike. He was very embarrassed and kept insisting when he was confronted with this, "I'll pay you back, Mummy. 'I'll pay you back when I'm a doctor. . .when I'm famous.'"
     Can't you just picture master Peter Noone as he crawled into his mother's arms, into her very heart, and showered her with kisses and all his love!
     It's a joy to listen to Mrs. Noone talk about her family. By the way, she never calls Peter Herman, not do any of their friends and relatives. She smiled when I asked if Peter was her favorite child. "Oh, no! Each of my children has something wonderful and special. They are fine young people. Denise lives with us and we find this a delightful arrangement and way of life. SUZANNE, our baby, also models and does TV work in England. We babysit for each other, too.
     "Denise calls me every day from England because she misses her little sister so much.
     DENIS NOONE, Peter's young and attractive father, had been spending most of the day running after Suzanne who seemingly never sits still. She is an enchanting child and is positively crazy about her big brother. Like Peter, she is unspoiled and has a delicious sense of humor. To hear her sing, Mrs. Brown, You've Got A Lovely Daughter, is a not-to-be-forgotten treat. And can she ever dance! Mrs. Noone told me that she receives a tremdendous amount of fan mail and fantastic presents. "We give many of the toys sent to Suzanne to local children's hospitals. Even here in America she is something of a celebrity," Mrs. Noone said. "She is an enchanting child, and her Daddy doesn't let her out of his sight, as you can see. I don't know where he gets the energy to keep up with her in this heat."