About an hour ago my mother called me with the news of my stepfather’s death. She is broken up but felt a beauty in the way he went. I’ll see her soon, probably early tomorrow, and we and other family will see his remains to a special place put aside for them.

Marty often talked about saving the world. He summed up his thoughts on the matter in the trilogy THE STORY OF OG AND MAN, for which I did cover illustration, and THE PAIN THAT LOST ITS MESSAGE. He developed artificial intelligence software years before its time, for which the megacorp Lego showed some interest (but ultimately, as they say in the biz, “went another direction”). The Don Quixote-cum-Jedi-knight flavor of Marty’s endeavors struck me as I ran across this image in a search for one of my drawings of Marty. This image will do; it’s a good metaphor for his struggles. Despite the last line, I am sure that Marty is now at a better address than Earth. Farewell, Marty, my friend.