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.
Here's the rhyme that'll get you to the Church of Nix-Nowhere. From The Rainbow String by Algernon Tassin and illustrated by Anna Richards Brewster, 1921.
"'If you're going to spy,' he says, not loud, but clear and sharp, 'then help me. That'll give you something to spy on.'" —Michael Cisco, The Divinity Student
You knew some books are for the birds, but here's one that's dedicated to hens, ducks, and geese. From The Diary of a Goose Girl by Kate Douglas Wiggin, 1902.