Arthur Clarke

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Arthur C. Clarke was born in 1917 in Minehead, Somerset. His mother was Nora Clarke and his father was Charles Wright Clarke. He had two brothers, Frederick and Michael and one sister, Mary. There were many events that helped to shape him and his writing style. The first major event in his early life was his first plane ride. He went on a Avro 504 biplane with his mother in 1927, this ride remained in his mind forever, and as he progressed as a writer it fueled his science fiction from jet-planes to space travel. Soon thereafter in 1928 Arthur read his first science fiction magazine. At the young age of twelve he began to develop his almost fanatic obsession with Science Fiction. This forever curved his path towards writing Science Fiction. Also in early 1930 Olaf Stapledon's Last and First Men was published, this beautifully written piece of science fiction was to have a profound effect on Clarke's writing. The last major event in Clarke's early life is on a sadder note. His father died in 1931 when Clarke was only 14 years old. As a result most of the major characters in his novels perish. (www.acclarke)

	In his later life there were also several events that helped to shape Clarke's writing style. In 1941 Clarke joined the Royal Air Force as an Aircraft hand Radio Wireless Mechanic/Aircraftmen Class 2. He was later trained in the use of Radio Direction Finding, termed RADAR. This allowed him to write well about armed conflict because he had experienced it for hi...

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