[Homestead] In Memoriam

Gene GeRue genegerue at ruralize.com
Sat Sep 1 08:42:51 EDT 2007


Please observe with me a very brief moment of silence upon opening  
the first brew today. Then resume as usual. Mike would approve.


Beer Critic Michael Jackson Dies
Email this Story

Aug 31, 10:00 AM (ET)

By THOMAS WAGNER

LONDON (AP) - Michael Jackson, a leading world beer critic who  
praised the brews of Belgium and acknowledged he would never be as  
famous as "that Michael Jackson," has died. He was 65.

Jackson, known as "the beer hunter," died Thursday of a heart attack  
at his home in west London. His body was found by his house cleaner,  
Paddy Gunningham, his long-term partner, said Friday.

She said he had kept writing and traveling, despite suffering from  
Parkinson's disease, and that he planned to write a book about the  
ailment.

"He was simply the best beer writer we've ever known," said Tim  
Hampson, chairman of the British Guild of Beer Writers. "He told  
wonderful stories about beer, breweries and far away places. He told  
the story of beer through people, and he was humorous and erudite at  
the same time," Hampson told The Associated Press.

Jackson especially loved Belgian brews. His books "The Great Beers of  
Belgium" and "World Guide to Beer" introduced them to many export  
markets, including the United States.

By identifying beers by their flavors and styles, and by pairing them  
with particular foods and dishes, Jackson helped give birth to a  
renaissance of interest in beer and breweries worldwide that began in  
the 1970s, including the North American microbrewery movement.

His TV documentary series, "The Beer Hunter" - which popularized his  
nickname - was filmed around the world and shown in 15 countries.

He worked as a beer critic for more than 30 years, writing in  
newspapers and gastronomic magazines, holding seminars and giving  
speeches, appearing on U.S. talk shows and writing books about beer  
and whiskeys published in 18 languages.

Jackson knew he would never be as famous as Michael Jackson the rock  
star, and that was reflected on the beer critic's Web site. "Hello,  
my name is Michael Jackson. No, not that Michael Jackson, but I am on  
a world tour. My tour is in pursuit of exceptional beer. That's why  
they call me the Beer Hunter," it says.

http://apnews.excite.com/article/20070831/D8RC1V280.html


More information about the Homestead mailing list