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.
"The medieval world saw a mystic parallel between light through stained glass and the body and soul of man" (Roy Rehrens, 1973). From Gardner-Webb's 1981 yearbook.
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.
X marks the spot. "We all know it's more than just a location on the map of Arizona." From the Phoenix yearbook of 1951. For over 80 surprising meanings of the letter X, see One-Letter Words: A Dictionary.