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.
A sprout pokes through a book bridging a gorge flowing from a giantess on the horizon as the sun-moon blooms. From Bonstonofavitch by Thomas Carlisle and illustrated by Kathleen McKie, 1974.
A lot of ink might go into a book, but some books actually give back ... especially if their covers are portals. From Bonstonofavitch by Thomas Carlisle and illustrated by Kathleen McKie, 1974.
"Slosh—slosh—sluzzle—sluzzle-slap! came some soft wet object right into his face." From "Slowboy and the Blue Goblins" by W. H. and S. W. Wallace, in The Children's Book, 1915.
A quarter century before Dali's melting watch in "Persistence of Memory," there was this melting clock tower in The Book of Spice by "Ginger" a.k.a. Wallace Irwin, 1906.