Michael Jackson (writer)

For other people named Michael Jackson, see Michael Jackson (disambiguation).

Michael Jackson
Jackson at the 2004 Helsinki Beer Festival
Born(1942-03-27)27 March 1942
Wetherby, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died30 August 2007(2007-08-30) (aged 65)
London, England
Known forBeer and whisky reviewing and journalism
PartnerPaddy Gunningham (1981—2007)[1][2]
WebsiteMichael Jackson's Beer Hunter
Rare Beer Club founderMichael Jackson Collection - Archive at Oxford Brookes University The Michael James Jackson Foundation for Brewing and Distilling - Funding technical education and career advancement for black, indigenous, and people of colour in the brewing and distilling industries

Michael James Jackson (27 March 1942 – 30 August 2007) was an English writer and journalist. He was the author of many influential books about beer and whisky. He was a regular contributor to a number of broadsheets, particularly The Independent and The Observer.[3]

Jackson's books have sold over three million copies worldwide and have been translated into eighteen languages.[4] He is credited with helping to start a renaissance of interest in beer and breweries worldwide in the 1970s, particularly in the United States.[5] He is also widely credited with popularising the idea of beer styles.[6] His influential television series The Beer Hunter was shown in fifteen countries.[7]

He was as well-versed in malt whisky as he was in beer, and his book Michael Jackson's Malt Whisky Companion (1989) was the best-selling book on the subject in the world.[4]

At the time of his death, Jackson had been suffering from Parkinson's disease for at least a decade. He did not declare his illness until his symptoms caused some to think he was inebriated.[3]

  1. ^ "Michael Jackson, 65, Beer Critic and author, Is Dead". The New York Times. 3 September 2007.
  2. ^ "Michael Jackson, in memory of the Beer Hunter". Beer-pages.com. Archived from the original on 28 June 2013. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  3. ^ a b The Daily Telegraph (London), 1 September 2007, Obituary of Michael Jackson Writer who tirelessly examined and championed beer and later became an equal authority on malt whisky, p29
  4. ^ a b "Michael Jackson: best-selling beer writer". The Independent. London. 3 September 2007.
  5. ^ "Michael Jackson, 65, Beer Critic and author, Is Dead". The New York Times. 3 September 2007.
  6. ^ "Michael Jackson and the invention of beer style". Zythophile.wordpress.com. 23 October 2010. Retrieved 17 August 2012.
  7. ^ Bowering, Ian (1995). Brewing in Formosa: 125 Years of Tradition, 1870–1995. Burnstown, Ontario, Canada: General Store Publishing House. p. v. ISBN 1896182224.