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.
You know that artists tend to be more successful in death than in life. Here's how it works -- "Death bringing fame to a musician." From Pick Me Up, 1892.
"Death saw a Patient who pulled out his purse. / And a Doctor who took the sum. / But he left them be, for he knew the 'Fee' / Was a prelude to 'Faw' and 'Fum.'" Color lithograph by Edward Hull, 1827.
"One day the dreary old King Death, / Inclined for some sport with the carnal; / So he took his shaft, well used to that craft, / And quietly stole from his charnel." Color lithograph by Edward Hull, 1827.
"A sickly female invalid sits covered up on a balcony overlooking a beautiful view; death (a ghostly skeleton clenching a scythe and an hourglass) is standing next to her, representing tuberculosis. Watercolour by R. Cooper."