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.
"Leaves have their time to fall, And flowers to wither at the north wind's breath, And stars to set; but all, Thou hast all seasons for thine own, O Death!" (Felicia Dorothea Hemans, "The Hour of Death," 1823). From Manual and Diagrams to Accompany Metcalf's Grammars by Carl Garrison, 1901.
"No radiant pearl, which crested Fortune wears, no gem that twinkling hangs from Beauty's wars. Not the bright stars which Night's blue arch adorn, nor rising suns that gild the vernal morn, shine with such lustre as the tear that flows down Virtue's manly cheek for others' woes" (Erasmus Darwin). From Manual and Diagrams to Accompany Metcalf's Grammars by Carl Garrison, 1901.