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 ouija board is one o fthe most popular distractions of the Hollywood flapper set." From Picture Play magazine, 1922. See The Care & Feeding of a Spirit Board.
"The gypsy girl was sorting out the cards. 'Now cross my palm with gold,' she said." From The Moving House by Pauline Bradford Mackie and illustrated by Howard E. Smith, 1918.
"She opened a cupboard, and taking down a pack of cards, began to shuffle them in a very mysterious manner, fixing on him a scrutinising look." From Matrimony by Mrs. Caustic, 1854.