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 gypsy girl was sorting out the cards. 'Now cross my palm with gold,' she said." From The Moving House by Pauline Bradford Mackie and illustrated by Howard E. Smith, 1918.
"I wonder if his crystal ball is a talisman, too?" From Cut Adrift by Albany Fonblanque, 1869.
Pictured: In a magical shop at Universal Studios Orlando, we discovered a crystal ball that seems to project holograms of its gazers in all directions. Here's the snap we captured of the effect as we consulted the mysterious sphere.
"Major or minor success? What do the cards say/ Miss Gertie Millar, who is to the heroine of 'A Waltz Dream,' consults the fates." From The Sketch, 1908.