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Malcolm Margolin

マルコム・マーゴリン

Malcolm Margolin

Profile

Gender
Male
Born
1940-10-27 （Boston, Massachusetts, U.S.）
Died
2025-08-20 （Berkeley, California, U.S.） age 84
Nationality
American
Languages
English
Religion
Judaism
Residence History
Puerto Rico (1964–1966) → Lower East Side, New York City (1966–1968) → Berkeley, California (1969–2025)

Career

Occupations
author, editor, publisher
Active Years
1974-2025
Affiliations
Heyday (founder, former executive director), California Institute for Community, Art, and Nature (California ICAN) (founder), Alliance for California Traditional Arts (co-founder), Inlandia Institute (co-founder), Book Club of California (Publication Committee member)
Memberships
Book Club of California (Publication Committee), Society for California Archaeology
Influenced By
Native California community elders and tradition-bearers
Influenced
Independent California publishers and regional cultural movements, Editors and activists in regional and natural history publishing

Education

Harvard University
English Literature
Degree: Bachelor of Arts
Period: 1960–1964
Year of Graduation: 1964
Country: United States
Met his wife Rina, a Radcliffe student, while attending Harvard

Awards

American Book Award (Publishing/Editing)
2001
Organization: Before Columbus Foundation
Result: 受賞
Chairman's Commendation, National Endowment for the Humanities
2012
Organization: National Endowment for the Humanities
Result: 受賞
Cultural Freedom Award
2008
Organization: Lannan Foundation
Result: 受賞
Helen Crocker Russell Award for Community Leadership
2008
Organization: San Francisco Foundation
Result: 受賞
Hubert Howe Bancroft Award
Organization: The Bancroft Library
Result: 受賞
Carey McWilliams Award for Lifetime Achievement
Organization: California Studies Association
Result: 受賞
Award for Organizational Excellence
Organization: American Association of State and Local History
Result: 受賞
Gold Medal, Commonwealth Club of California
Organization: Commonwealth Club of California
Result: 受賞

Awards & Nominations

Works

Major Works

The Ohlone Way: Indian Life in the San Francisco–Monterey Bay Area

1978 nonfiction, regional history

Documents and presents the lifeways of the Ohlone and neighboring Native peoples of the San Francisco–Monterey Bay area, drawing on oral histories and regional traditions.

Native cultureregional historyoral tradition

The East Bay Out: A Personal Guide to the East Bay Regional Parks

1974 guidebook, natural history

A personal guide to the East Bay Regional Parks, introducing natural sites and walks in the area.

natureregional guideconservation

The Earth Manual: How to Work on Wild Land without Taming It

1975 environmental, nature

Essays and guidance on working with wild land in ways that respect natural processes and avoid domestication.

living with the landenvironmental ethics

The Way We Lived: California Indian Stories, Songs & Reminiscences

1981 folklore, oral history

An edited collection of stories, songs, and reminiscences from Native Californians intended to preserve and present their cultural heritage.

preservationoral traditionNative perspectives

Deep Hanging Out: Wanderings and Wonderment in Native California

2021 memoir, essays

A memoir and essay collection recounting long-term engagement with Native California people and places.

memoircultural engagementnature observation

Wonderments of the East Bay

2014 regional natural history

Profiles and celebrates remarkable natural sites and phenomena of the East Bay with prose and images.

natural wondersregional landscapes

Bibliography

  • The East Bay Out: A Personal Guide to the East Bay Regional Parks (rev. ed.)
  • The Earth Manual: How to Work on Wild Land without Taming It
  • The Way We Lived: California Indian Stories, Songs & Reminiscences (ed.)
  • Native Ways: California Indian Stories and Memories (co-ed.)
  • The Ohlone Way: Indian Life in the San Francisco–Monterey Bay Area
  • Wonderments of the East Bay (with Sylvia Linsteadt)
  • Deep Hanging Out: Wanderings and Wonderment in Native California
  • Life in a California Mission: Monterey in 1786 (edited and introduced by Malcolm Margolin)

Style & Themes

Literary Style
clear nonfiction proseeditorial approach that respects oral sources and local voicesessayistic memoir and observation
Recurring Motifs
recording and preserving Native culturesrelationships between nature and landcommunity and oral tradition

Health

  • Parkinson's disease
    晩年（期間の詳細不明）
    Affected his health in later years; complications of the disease led to his death

Legacy

Malcolm Margolin founded Heyday in 1974 and made significant contributions to publishing and preserving California regional history, Native cultures, and natural history. As an editor and publisher he oversaw hundreds of books and influenced regional cultural life and the next generation of independent publishers.

Academic Societies

  • Society for California Archaeology (associated award recipient)

Archives

  • The Bancroft Library (UC Berkeley) — oral history collections and related materials

Quotes

  • "Such a goddamn beautiful life"
    Source: Bancroft Library Oral History (interview) (2017)

Trivia

  • Born to a Lithuanian mother and an American father.
  • Earned a degree in English Literature from Harvard (1964).
  • Founded the independent press Heyday in 1974.
  • Established California ICAN in 2017 to continue work on community, art, and nature.
  • Died in 2025 from complications of Parkinson's disease.