The Heyday of Malcolm Margolin: The Damn Good Times of a Fiercely Independent Publisher - Paperback

by Kim Bancroft (Author)

"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 Solnit

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-day status as the "cultural linchpin for the state" (Northern California Book Booksellers Association).

A chorus of friends, including Maxine Hong Kingston, Robert Hass, and Kevin Starr, enriches our understanding of a vibrant literary community and its one-of-a-kind leader. Funny and provocative, The Heyday of Malcolm Margolin reveals the workings of a courageously unconventional enterprise run on beauty, passion, friendship, and joy.

Front Jacket

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-day status as the "cultural linchpin for the state" (Northern California Book Booksellers Association). A chorus of friends, including Maxine Hong Kingston, Robert Hass, and Kevin Starr, enriches our understanding of a vibrant literary community and its one-of-a-kind leader. Funny and provocative, The Heyday of Malcolm Margolin reveals the workings of a courageously unconventional enterprise run on beauty, passion, friendship, and joy.

Author Biography

Longtime teacher turned editor and writer, Kim Bancroft earned a B.A. in English from Stanford, an M.A. in English and a teaching credential from San Francisco State University, and a doctorate in education from UC Berkeley. She has taught at high schools and community colleges in the Bay Area, at the Universidad de Guanajuato in Mexico, and at Sacramento State. In 2014 Kim edited H.H.B.'s 1890 autobiography, Literary Industries, published by Heyday Books. She also wrote a biography of the founder of Heyday Books, called The Heyday of Malcolm Margolin: The Damn Good Times of a Fiercely Independent Publisher. Of many other memoirs that Kim has recently helped create, she has edited two of Native friends in the Willits area where she now lives in a cabin in the woods.