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.
Staring into the depths: an illustration from a 1910 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. The caption reads: "For a long while she sat, her cheek resting on one palm, looking fixedly into space."
Staring into the depths: an illustration from a 1916 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. The caption reads: "Moments of depression and discouragement came, of course, but her iron will carried her beyond them."
Staring into the depths: an illustration from a 1906 issue of Pall Mall magazine. The caption reads: "She took her eyes from the mile-deep caverns in the fire and glanced at the faded daguerrotype."
Staring into the depths: an illustration from Frank Leslie's Popular Monthly, 1881. The caption reads: "She gathered her drapery about her, and leaped into the stormy darkness."
Staring into the depths: an illustration from a 1913 issue of Cosmopolitan magazine. The delightful caption reads, "It was characteristic of her that she could so excite herself by the power of visualization as to be completely transported."