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.
Note that Jesus goes unidentified in the caption. "The most important thing is that Jesus is left out in the conversation" (Conversations with God by Neale Donald Walsch). From George Fox's 1980 yearbook.
Two whole pages are dedicated to the snow of 1976 (though the yearbook is dated 1977, of course it covers the months previous). We appreciate the accuracy of the coverage. From Rend Lake's 1977 yearbook. Speaking of pregnantly blank maps, see this extraordinarily usual thing: The Carte Blanche Atlas.