I knew Bert Moore for over 3 decades. Aside from his work for the US government he loved biking and sketching. I’ve seen his work in lots of places and always admired the relaxed style he used to bring life to subjects. I was honored to spend some time with Bert during his last days. He was excited about trying to capture the main characters in my book, The Big Melt. I think he did a pretty darn good job of it. I would like to share these images with you as a tribute to the man and his art.

Marley Jones is the lead protagonist in The Big Melt. He is a skate-boarder as shown here by Bert’s sketch. He is also a teenager, ready to get on with his life – and then all hell breaks loose in the form of a whole slew of climate change impacts. Here he is trying to relearn his favorite form of transport on melting streets.

Ranger Max, one of Marley’s mentors, is sneaking up on a meadow at dusk to watch the famous mating dance of the woodcock. His well planned outing and his wooded park are disrupted by a catastrophic invasion of insects, moving north with the warming climate.

Sam, who along with his father are the main antagonists in The Big Melt, blasts away in this sketch at the competition as drones try to deliver packages to his customers.

Sam also converted his hummer to rolling coal so he can blow exhaust on bikers, walkers and hybrid owners. This has happened to me once and it took a few minutes for the air to clear enough to drive safely.