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.
"Pretty soon he told himself, he would get up and find something to eat, and promptly fell asleep, the sound of music and voices in his ear." From Improvement Era, 1939.
"One day as I sat musing alone and melancholy and without a friend, there came a voice from out of the gloom, saying 'Cheer up! Things could be worse!' So I cheered up, and sure enough—things got worse." From North Central's 1973 yearbook.
"Melancholy women. Always afraid something dreadful is going to happen. Why should women have the blues more than men?" From the Duluth Evening Herald, 1902.