Born in 1961 in Kingston upon Thames in London, UK, Peter Harpley came as something of a surprise. His mother went into labour, and Joanna was born… they were just getting her onto the trolley to return to the ward when the midwife said, “You're a funny shape, Mrs Harpley. I think there’s another one in there!” and, shortly after, Peter was born. His father was staying with his mother’s parents, and the phone call came through: “You had a lovely little girl… and a boy”
When he was at Bridgeman Infant's School in Teddington, he, with his best friend Jono, founded a new planet called Losher. They would make newspaper reports (involving other planets attacking them and so on). The first one to arrive at school would stand outside the classroom and salute the other one as he arrived by sticking their right hand out at roughly 45 degrees and shouting “Hail”. They thought it was – and indeed probably rightly – that it was Roman in origin. No one told them it had more sinister twentieth-century connotations.
He was sacked from his first job at Our Price Records when an enthusiastic youth said “’ eer John, you got [something trendy he had no knowledge of] ?” “No he replied without looking. And my name is not John”. He then worked at Kingston Hospital before attending art school, where he studied at Kingston Polytechnic and The London College of Printing. He worked for the fabled Video Palace in London’s Soho, then started to lose his soul working in Tele-marketing, before his Mother-in-law said over dinner (as you do…) I think I’ll open an art gallery. He rang her the next day to ask if she was serious, and they opened Artmonsky Arts in St John’s Wood, NW London.
That lasted roughly 5 years before he took a job at the wonderful William Hogarth School in Chiswick, where he spent 17 glorious years supporting children with Autism, ADHD and behavioural challenges. He was married once. Help bring a child into the world (no, seriously, he had to tell the midwife what to do quite a bit). Then divorced.
Here’s what his ex-wife has to say about him: ‘An old softie with the unexpected streak of ‘Paddington hard look’. Never underestimate him. A good egg. Not an evil bone in his body. Supportive in a crisis, makes a great cup of tea. Really digs into subjects that interest him, even though those around him might only want to hear the bullet point version. He works well with school kids because in his spirit, he is one. He has substantial knowledge about Autism and should be a consultant…’