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.
"We drink that wine all day, till the last drop is drained up; and are lighted off to bed by the jewels in the cup." From Manual and Diagrams to Accompany Metcalf's Grammars, 1901.
From Prof. Oddfellow's sketchbook: in honor of The Shadow of the Waxwing, who said, "I really want to put Ex Libris plates in all my books, but I'm not sure if I could handle that level of pretension. My tolerance is high but my god. It's a real struggle. I feel like I'm allowed 2 or 3 very improbable/pretensious things before I descend into self parody, and they might be a bridge too far." In our diagram, we've identified that bridge-too-far as cantilevered.
"Instead of saying that man is the creature of circumstance, it would be nearer the mark to say that man is the architect of circumstance." From Hoenshel's Complete English Grammar, 1897.
"We reach the goal when, in the mansions of the blest, Death leaves to its eternal rest the weary soul." From Manual and Diagrams to Accompany Metcalf's Grammars, 1901.