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The first definitive collection of Malcolm Margolin's essential writing—a celebration of one of California's most beloved storytellers, publishers, and cultural visionaries.
For more than fifty years, Malcolm Margolin transformed the way Californians understand their home. As the founding publisher of Heyday, cofounder of News from Native California, and author of the landmark classic The Ohlone Way, he championed overlooked histories, amplified Indigenous voices, and inspired generations of readers to see California with greater curiosity, humility, and wonder. Described by Rebecca Solnit as "the glue that holds the sweetest parts of California together," Margolin was—above all—an unforgettable storyteller.
So Damn Beautiful (It’ll Break Your Heart) brings together the finest of his writing for the first time, including beloved essays, long-unavailable pieces, and hidden gems that reveal the warmth, wit, and emotional honesty that made him such a profound presence. Whether writing about California's astonishing natural beauty, his lifelong friendships with tribal communities, or the writers and thinkers who have revealed the Golden State's most capacious, awe-inspiring sense of itself, Margolin invites readers to delight in the surprising grace found in ordinary encounters and the marvels hidden in plain sight.
Edited by his friend and colleague Emmerich Anklam, this posthumous volume is an immersion in Margolin's irresistible sensibility: soulful, generous, and laugh-out-loud funny. And it's a bounty of riches—both for readers who have followed Margolin for decades, and for anyone encountering his singular and enchanting voice for the first time. So Damn Beautiful (It’ll Break Your Heart) reveals why Margolin is hailed as one of California's essential storytellers.
Praise for Malcolm Margolin:
“Malcolm Margolin is an American treasure. His publications and community service have uplifted the citizens of California, especially the cultural contributions of the Indigenous peoples of California." —Joy Harjo
"Malcolm Margolin is a man of engagement who dares to go deep. He is fearless and joyous at once." —Terry Tempest Williams
"Malcolm Margolin makes known to the wider world the incredible and unique ways of California’s Native people. With sensitivity and verve, he shares his deep knowledge and lifelong observations." —Jerry Brown, former governor of California
"Here in is testimony of Malcolm Margolin’s legacy, not just as the greatest public advocate of our remarkable survival, but as a part of California Indian history itself." —Greg Sarris
"Malcolm Margolin has spent a lifetime connecting us to Indigenous wisdom, knowledge that had been ignored and marginalized for centuries. His patiently assembled firsthand accounts honor the ancestors and are a teaching for the world." —Paul Hawken
Malcolm Margolin (1940–2025) was the founder of Heyday, serving as publisher from 1974 to 2015. He cofounded the quarterly magazine News from Native California; helped found Bay Nature Institute, the Inlandia Institute, and the Alliance for California Traditional Artists; and was the founder and creative director of the California Institute for Community, Art, and Nature. His books include The Earth Manual, The East Bay Out, The Ohlone Way (selected by the San Francisco Chronicle as one of the top one hundred Western nonfiction books of the twentieth century), The Way We Lived, and Deep Hanging Out. The recipient of numerous awards and honors, he lived in Berkeley, California.
Editor’s Introduction
Beginnings
- The Birth of Heyday
- Deep Hanging Out
The Natural World
- Selections from The Earth Manual
- Briones
- Sunol
- Point Pinole
- Claremont Canyon
- Brooks Island
- Browns Island
- Miller-Knox Shoreline
- Ardenwood
- Western Pond Turtles
California Indian Country
- The Acorn Harvest
- The Seed Meadow
- The Spirit of Bioregionalism
- Indian Market
- The Roundhouse at Chaw’se
California History, Culture, and Publishing
- A Short History of Berkeley—Origins to 1989
- Berkeley Publishing in the 1970s
- On Stickeen
- On Becoming John Muir’s Publisher
- A Land Rich in Lore, Rich in Cotton, Poor in Spirit
- Ramchandra Gandhi’s Visit
- On Ernest Callenbach and Ecotopia
Heyday Lifetime Achievement Award Acceptance Speech
About the Author