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.
Spoiler: the answer following the question posed here is that Death is not only a living entity but also a loving one. From Ghost Trackers Newsletter, 1989.
"You want drama that burns like a woman's tears? ... the ecstasy of love unbounded? Try next door!" An ad for the Marx Bros.' Room Service. From The Film Daily, 1938.
Adjusting for inflation, that's $8.08 in today's Canadian dollars. "Spent a dollar lately and can't remember where or why or on what?" From The Gateway, 1966.