Mike Dolgushkin was born in 1953 in San Francisco and started drawing at an early age. He began collecting Fillmore and Avalon posters while in high school and thought “I can do that.” Of course, it wasn’t easy at first but Mike eventually got proficient enough to design hundreds of flyers for legendary Bay Area musicians. When he finally entered the computer age Mike graduated to color posters, which led to his work for Moonalice.
His graphic skills are basically self-taught; he has almost no art training beyond examining his poster collection, acknowledging that in doing so he learned from the best. Mike does, however, have a Master’s in Public History and a Master’s in Library Science, and works in the California History Section of the State Library in Sacramento preserving the history of the state. He is also a co-author of the DeadBase series of Grateful Dead reference books, and is working with his friend Emiliano Echeverria on a trilogy chronicling the early history of San Francisco’s streetcar systems.
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