Malcolm Margolin (born October 27, 1940) is an author, publisher, and former executive director of Heyday Books, an independent nonprofit publisher and cultural institution in

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Anglo-Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland, Cali ...

. From his founding of Heyday in 1974 until his retirement at the end of 2015, he oversaw the publication of several hundred books and the creation of two quarterly magazines: ''News from Native California,'' devoted to the history and ongoing cultural concerns of California Indians, and '' Bay Nature,'' devoted to the natural history of the San Francisco Bay Area. In the fall of 2017, he established a new enterprise, the California Institute for Community, Art, and Nature (California ICAN) to continue and expand upon the work that he began more than forty years ago. Margolin is the author/editor of several books including ''The Ohlone Way: Indian Life in the San Francisco-Monterey Bay Area'', named by the ''

San Francisco Chronicle The ''San Francisco Chronicle'' is a newspaper serving primarily the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It was founded in 1865 as ''The Daily Dramatic Chronicle'' by teenage brothers Charles de Young and M. H. de Young, Michael H. ...

'' as one of the hundred most important books of the twentieth century by a western writer. His essays and articles have appeared in a number of periodicals including ''

The Nation ''The Nation'' is a progressive American monthly magazine that covers political and cultural news, opinion, and analysis. It was founded on July 6, 1865, as a successor to William Lloyd Garrison's '' The Liberator'', an abolitionist newspaper ...

,'' the ''

'', and the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

''.

Early life and education

Margolin was born in Boston, Massachusetts on October 27, 1940 to a Lithuanian mother and an American father. He attended

Boston Latin School The Boston Latin School is a Magnet school, magnet Latin schools, Latin Grammar schools, grammar State school, state school in Boston, Massachusetts. It has been in continuous operation since it was established on April 23, 1635. It is the old ...

and

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, where he earned a degree in

English Literature English literature is literature written in the English language from the English-speaking world. The English language has developed over more than 1,400 years. The earliest forms of English, a set of Anglo-Frisian languages, Anglo-Frisian d ...

in 1964. He met his wife Rina while attending Harvard; she was a psychology major at

Radcliffe College Radcliffe College was a Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college in Cambridge, Massachusetts, that was founded in 1879. In 1999, it was fully incorporated into Harvard Colle ...

. After college he lived in

Puerto Rico ; abbreviated PR), officially the Commonwealth of Puerto Rico, is a Government of Puerto Rico, self-governing Caribbean Geography of Puerto Rico, archipelago and island organized as an Territories of the United States, unincorporated territo ...

(1964–1966) and New York City's

Lower East Side The Lower East Side, sometimes abbreviated as LES, is a historic neighborhood in the southeastern part of Manhattan in New York City. It is located roughly between the Bowery and the East River from Canal to Houston streets. Historically, it w ...

(1966–1968). He visited

Yosemite National Park Yosemite National Park ( ) is a List of national parks of the United States, national park of the United States in California. It is bordered on the southeast by Sierra National Forest and on the northwest by Stanislaus National Forest. The p ...

in the summer of 1967. In 1969, he moved with Rina to California.

Career

Margolin has lectured widely and has served as advisor and mentor to many other publishers. In addition to founding Heyday (1974), News from Native California (1987), and Bay Nature (2001), he co-founded the Alliance for California Traditional Arts (1997), an organization devoted to California folk arts, and has served on its board since its beginning. In 2001, he co-founded Inlandia Institute, a literary center in Riverside, California. He currently serves on the Publication Committee of the Book Club of California and devotes time and effort to a number of environmental, cultural, and social justice organizations and causes.

Personal life

He has lived in Berkeley, California since the late 1960s, where he and his wife, Rina, have raised three children: Reuben (1970), Sadie (1974), and Jacob (1980).

Bibliography

Books authored by Margolin include: * * * * * *Margolin, Malcolm; Linsteadt, Sylvia. ''Wonderments of the East Bay.'' Berkeley: Heyday. 2014. . *Bancroft, Kim. ''The Heyday of Malcolm Margolin'': ''The Damn Good Times of a Fiercely Independent Publisher''. Berkeley: Heyday. 2014. . *La Perouse, Jean-Francois de Galaup; Edited, introduced, with extensive commentary by Malcolm Margolin. ''Life in a California Mission: Monterey in 1786.'' Berkeley: Heyday. 1989. . *Margolin, Malcolm. ''Deep Hanging Out'': ''Wanderings and Wonderment in Native California.'' Berkeley: Heyday. 2021. .

Awards

He has received many honors including a Lifetime Achievement Award from the San Francisco Bay Area Book Reviewers Association, a Community Leadership Award from the

San Francisco Foundation San Francisco Foundation is a San Francisco Bay Area philanthropy Philanthropy is a form of altruism that consists of "private initiatives for the Public good (economics), public good, focusing on quality of life". Philanthropy contrasts with ...

, a Gold Medal from the Commonwealth Club of California, an American Book Award from the

Before Columbus Foundation The Before Columbus Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1976 by Ishmael Reed, "dedicated to the promotion and dissemination of contemporary American multicultural literature". The Foundation makes annual awards for books published in ...

, and a Cultural Freedom Award from the

Lannan Foundation The Lannan Literary Awards are a series of awards and literary fellowships given out in various fields by the Lannan Foundation. Established in 1989, the awards are meant "to honor both established and emerging writers whose work is of exceptional ...

. In 2012 he received the chairman's Commendation from the

National Endowment for the Humanities The National Endowment for the Humanities (NEH) is an independent federal agency of the U.S. government, established by thNational Foundation on the Arts and the Humanities Act of 1965(), dedicated to supporting research, education, preserv ...

, the second person in the United States to be so honored. * 2001 – American Book Award for Publishing/Editing, Before Columbus Foundation * Award for Organizational Excellence, American Association of State and Local History * California Council for the Promotion of History Award * California Indian Health Services Award * "

California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature (the upper house being the California State Senate). The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Califor ...

Resolution" honoring Heyday * Carey McWilliams Award for Lifetime Achievement, California Studies Association * Chairman's Commendation, National Endowment for the Humanities * Cultural Freedom Award, Lannan Foundation * Distinguished Service Award from the Society of Professional Journalists * Fred Cody Award, Bay Area Book Reviewers Association * Gerbode Fellowship * Helen Crocker Russell Award for Community Leadership, San Francisco Foundation * The

Hubert Howe Bancroft Hubert Howe Bancroft (May 5, 1832 – March 2, 1918) was an American historian and ethnologist who wrote, published, and collected works concerning the Western United States, Texas, California, Alaska, Mexico, Central America, and British Colum ...

Award, The Bancroft Library * Martin Baumhoff Award for Achievement by the Society for California Archaeology * The Oscar Lewis Award for Contributions to Western History, Book Club of California * Presidential Commendation, The Society for California Archaeology * Publishing Award, California Horticultural Society * Special recognition for leadership in the arts, California Arts Council

References

External links

* California ICAN (http://www.californiaican.org) {{DEFAULTSORT:Margolin, Malcolm 1940 births Living people 20th-century American historians 20th-century American Jews 20th-century American male writers 20th-century American non-fiction writers 21st-century American historians 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American male writers 21st-century American non-fiction writers American Book Award winners American book editors American book publishing company founders American magazine editors American magazine founders American magazine publishers (people) American male non-fiction writers American nature writers American people of Lithuanian descent Businesspeople from Berkeley, California Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area Harvard University alumni Historians of Native Americans Jewish American historians Jewish American non-fiction writers Writers from Berkeley, California