Cirrus@Austlit

Ron L. Clarke attended Normanhurst Boys High School in Sydney during the early 1960s. With some school friends, he founded a fanzine called The Mentor in 1964. Clarke had become a dedicated science-fiction fan the previous year, after attending his first meeting of the Sydney Futurians. He had earlier seen a notice about the upcoming meeting in an issue of the British prozine New Worlds and, in correspondence with Richard Lynch, recalls that he 'ventured into Sydney to 96 Phillip Street, up the dark and musty stairs to the room on the 2nd floor where dwelt the Futurian Society of Sydney library. There [he] met Graham Stone, Kevin Dillon, and Alan South ... and soon afterwards became a member of the society' (ctd. Lynch, n. pag.). After graduating from high school in 1966, Clarke continued The Mentor as his own fanzine. That same year, he also attended his first convention.

Although The Mentor's editorship had by then been reduced to just himself, Clarke kept it going if only to 'show the flag' at the 1968 Melbourne conference. As the months progressed, however, the quality improved and the size increased, to the point that the zine became arguably one of Australia's best fanzines. It even won Best Australian Fanzine at the 1972 Ditmar Awards. A Bertram Chandler was also a frequent contributor, starting in 1971 and continuing up until his death in 1984. Chandler had a regular column called 'Grimesish Grumberlings' where his mind ranged across ideas within and outside of the science-fiction community. Clarke's philosophy with The Mentor was to publish a mix of fiction, poetry, and articles, and he continued publishing the fanzine (with minor interruptions) through until the late 1990s.

As one Sydney's most prominent science-fiction fans, Clarke became actively involved in many facets of both the fan industry and fandom itself. He co-founded both the Sydney Science Fiction Foundation and the Australian and New Zealand Amateur Press Association (ANZAPA). In the 1970s, he led a group of people who revived the Sydney Futurians, after it had slipped into another moribund period. Clarke also chaired the 1974 Australian National Convention. In 1980, Clarke published Vol Molesworth's A History of Australian Fandon: 1935 to 1963, some fourteen years after the author's death.