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.
You've heard of "first degree burns," but the "degree" apparently refers to an academic rank, and the burns are caused by the light of wisdom being focused through a giant magnifying glass. From Susquehanna's 1914 yearbook.
We're honored that Rolf Maurer called our Dictionary of One-Letter Words "magisterial." In celebration, we made this illustration of a crown opening like a seed, its uppermost gem growing like a branch. There are implanted shoots, like an ornate N and V, which might grow together to form an M. Is the M for "magisterial"? It's not for us to analyze our own work.