CRAIG CONLEY (Prof. Oddfellow) is recognized by Encarta as “America’s most creative and diligent scholar of letters, words and punctuation.” He has been called a “language fanatic” by Page Six gossip columnist Cindy Adams, a “cult hero” by Publisher’s Weekly, a “monk for the modern age” by George Parker, and “a true Renaissance man of the modern era, diving headfirst into comprehensive, open-minded study of realms obscured or merely obscure” by Clint Marsh. An eccentric scholar, Conley’s ideas are often decades ahead of their time. He invented the concept of the “virtual pet” in 1980, fifteen years before the debut of the popular “Tamagotchi” in Japan. His virtual pet, actually a rare flower, still thrives and has reached an incomprehensible size. Conley’s website is OneLetterWords.com.
"The Prickly Pig, the Pug and Pard / Try to surprise the Nubian Bard. / He only smiles, with gesture Kind, — Wild flights do not disturb his mind." From St. Nicholas magazine, 1902.
While advertising always seeks to grab and hold people's attention, it's no longer legal for products to manhandle. Our ad appears in St. Nicholas magazine, 1907.
"Beautiful stars! In other days, / the prophets' eyes might read your rays; / and tell of many a strange event, / of warfare, and of warning sent." From The Astrologer of the Nineteeth Century by Merlinus Anglicus Junior, 1825.