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.
"And lo! With the moon, St. John and St. Paul, and the rest of them, began to dawn in the window in their lovely garments." From At the Back of the North Wind by George MacDonald and illustrated by Maria Kirk, 1909.
One is reminded of Pessoa's Book of Disquiet, in which lovers are trapped within opposing stained glass windows. From Florida Southern's 1969 yearbook.
"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.
Prof. Oddfellow received a mysterious bottle in the mail, with a note explaining that the cord is tied to whatever is inside and that the bottle must never, ever be shaken or opened. It's been said that the spirits that move the world are not the kind that come out of a bottle. We'll see about that.