Few people - even in Council - have been able to shed much light on basic facts about Clarke's life, the kind of information that residents might expect to know about the person who will now have a large hand in shaping the city's future.
For instance:
* Clarke grew up on the hardscrabble streets of Strawberry Mansion at a time when gang violence was prevalent. How did he survive the tough neighborhood? What was his family like?
* Did he go to college? Clarke's biography on Council's website makes no mention. Previous news stories said he went to Community College of Philadelphia. The Committee of Seventy's website said he attended Rider University.
* When Clarke was sworn in as Council president earlier this month, he shared the stage with his daughter, Nicole, and her 1-year-old son.
Some Council members said they were surprised to learn that he had been a single father. What was that like, at a time when single fathers weren't so common?
* Street, Clarke's mentor, had a remarkable rise in power, from councilman to Council president to mayor. Does Clarke's ambition include a run for mayor in 2015?
After a month's worth of interview requests, Clarke, 59, sat down yesterday with the Daily News and addressed a variety of issues, from his upbringing to the notion that he's impossible to know.
"I lived in a community where people know me and have supported me over the years," Clarke said. "It's clear there's no way in the world they couldn't know me [because] they've been supportive of me for so many years.
"I could walk down Diamond Street right now and see people coming out of the stores, [saying] 'Hey Darrell, how's your brother?'
"They know me. You guys don't know me. You put this characterization that's just not accurate."
Fortunate son
