Two hundred years ago, herds of elk and antelope dotted the hills of the San Francisco-Monterey Bay area. Grizzly bears lumbered down to the creeks to fish for silver salmon and steelhead trout. From vast marshlands geese, ducks, and other birds rose in thick clouds “with a sound like that of a hurricane.” This land of “inexpressible fertility,” as one early explorer described it, supported one of the densest Indian populations in all of North America. One of the most ground-breaking and h...

A look at what Native American life was like in the Bay Area before the arrival of Europeans.Two hundred years ago, herds of elk and antelope dotted the hills of the San Francisco–Monterey Bay area. Grizzly bears lumbered down to the creeks to fish for silver salmon and steelhead trout. From vast marshlands geese, ducks, and other birds rose in thick clouds "with a sound like that of a hurricane." This land of "inexpressible fertility," as one early explorer describ...

A chronicle of fifty years of deep hanging out in California’s Indian country!"Deep Hanging Out is a vibrant testament to one man’s commitment to nurturing community and dancing with change." —Terry Tempest WilliamsWriter and publisher Malcolm Margolin has been "deep hanging out"—or immersing himself in a social, informal way—in California's Indian country since the 1970s. This volume collects thirty articles, introductions, and ot...

"If you don't know Malcolm, prepare yourself to meet the uncle you wish you had, the glue that holds the sweetest part of California together, and some very hilarious picaresque adventures in this still-golden state." —Rebecca SolnitIn an age of big box stores and media conglomerates, how can an independent publishing house survive—and even thrive? Kim Bancroft takes us into Heyday, a small press that for forty years has spotlighted California's best stories. Drawi...

The story of Heyday and its founder In an age of big box stores and media conglomerates, how can an independent publishing house survive—and even thrive? Kim Bancroft takes us into Heyday, a small press that for forty years has spotlighted California’s best stories. Drawing from the words of founder Malcolm Margolin, this compelling portrait recounts the making of Heyday, from its roots in the do-it-yourself/change-the-world clime of 1970s Berkeley to its present-d...

What were the Original Instructions that tribal communities lived by for the vast majority of human existence? Native leaders Oren Lyons, Rebecca Adamson, Katsi Cook, Melissa Nelson, and writer Malcolm Margolin invoke the Original Instructions.

“One of the most important utopian novels of the twentieth century that still has very important lessons to teach us. It will always convey to perfection the wild optimism of that moment: a feeling we need to recapture, adjusted for our time.”—Kim Stanley Robinson on EcotopiaCollected in one handsome volume for the first time, The Complete Ecotopia presents an early classic of environmental science fiction in its entirety. Ecotopia (1975)...

A concise, "colorful, well-told" history of the City by the Bay, from the Gold Rush to the Summer of Love to the twenty-first century ( Los Angeles Times).This is the story of San Francisco, a unique and rowdy tale with a legendary cast of characters. It tells of the Indians and the Spanish missions, the arrival of thousands of gold seekers and gamblers, crackbrains and dreamers, the building of the transcontinental railroad and the cable car, labor strife...

The author of Gold Rush Stories shares tales of the larger-than-life characters from the history of the legendary Sierra Nevada mountain range.With its 14,000-foot granite mountains, crystalline lakes, conifer forests, and hidden valleys, the Sierra Nevada has long been the domain of dreams, attracting the heroic and the delusional, the best of humanity and the worst. Stories abound, and characters emerge so outlandish and outrageous that they must be real...