Jeff Pert, the Maine artist whose moose and lobster cartoons on souvenirs make tourists laugh, is being memorialized by family and friends with a fund that will benefit a favorite writing program.

Pert, who lived in Brunswick, died unexpectedly in April. He was best known for his cartoons, which were published in local media and adorned magnets, postcards and mugs in souvenir shops, but he was also a writer of horror and dark fantasy.

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• Jeff Pert, cartoonist with a Maine funny bone, dies at 55

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Magnets, coffee and drinking cups and a puzzle created by Maine cartoonist Jeff Pert are among the items popular with tourists. Morning Sentinel File Photo/David Leaming

Jeff Pert’s family has established a fund in his memory. File Photo

The late cartoonist Jeff Pert’s work is featured on glassware. His cartoons of lobsters and moose also appear on magnets, postcards and other items. Shawn Patrick Ouellette/2014 Press Herald file

Pert was a longtime member of a Maine writers’ group and in 2006 was selected to attend the Odyssey Writing Workshop in New Hampshire, a respected program for writers of fantasy, horror and science fiction. The summer workshop, according to his family, was a pivotal experience for him.

The Jeff Pert Memorial Fund will finance the appearance of a guest lecturer at each Odyssey workshop. To help raise money for the fund, Pert’s family has donated two books from his collection that he prized the most: signed copies of Stephen King’s “The Dead Zone” and “Danse Macabre.” The books will be auctioned on eBay in a special event. To participate in the auction, or get more details, contact Odyssey director Jeanne Cavelos at jcavelos@sff.net or call (603) 673-6234.

Donations to the fund can be made at sff.net/odyssey/donations.html, or by mail: Odyssey, P.O. Box 75, Mont Vernon, N.H., 03057. Specify that the donation should go to the Jeff Pert Memorial Fund.

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