Michael Jackson | |
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Born | Wetherby, West Riding of Yorkshire, England | 27 March 1942
Died | 30 August 2007 London, England | (aged 65)
Known for | Beer and whisky reviewing and journalism |
Partner | Paddy Gunningham (1981—2007)[1][2] |
Website | Michael 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]