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.
Many of us have been there, slumped in an armchair, the Ouija board on our lap upside down, our fingers tracing meaningless patterns over its surface ... our heads inclined at an odd angle, our eyes vacant, singing a little tune." From Effigies by William K.
Twelve years before the invention of Mr. Potato Head, it was believed that potatoes couldn't play with you. Today, we know that potatoes can in fact play. From Think-and-Do Book to Accompany Fun with Dick and Jane, 1940.