Rick Griffin

Richard Alden Griffin was born June 18th 1944, at the Queen of Angels Hospital in Los Angeles, California, to James and Jacqueline Griffin. His dad, Jim, was an electrical engineer.

Rick grew up in Los Angeles in the 1950’s, reading and collecting comic books and watching Disney animations. For vacations, his parents and older brother, Jim, would travel on long distance trips through the South West to visit family back in Arizona. 

As a teenager Rick read “Humbug” and “Mad” cartoon magazines that his parents disapproved of. He also liked horror comics like “Tales from the Crypt” which he collected. When he was younger, his first experience with EC comics happened when his dad gave him a dime to go into the drug store and buy a comic book. He enthusiastically went in and looked over the selection of various titles until he came to one that really grabbed his attention. It was an issue of “MAD” with the life story of Will Elder. 

Rick and the other emerging poster artists were designing posters for Chet Helms “Family Dog” dances, and a little later for Bill Graham who was putting on shows at the famous Fillmore auditorium and Avalon Ballroom. The posters would get stapled up on telephone poles up and down Haight Street. At the time, Haight Street was a quiet neighborhood, but would soon become jam packed with almost 100,000 young adults arriving that summer from all around the world, filling the neighborhood and spilling into the Golden Gate park at the end of Haight Street. The dances were fun and getting to watch live bands play like The Cream, The Who, Jimi Hendrix and B.B. King was exciting. 

Rick’s legacy lives on. Not everyone recognizes this legendary, American artist by name, but most recognize some of his most iconic images. Those that do know him by name, even if they never met him, will usually share how his work deeply affected and inspired them.