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Today would have been Michael Jackson’s 67th birthday. I’ll again be playing some jazz and having a pint of something yummy in his honor, which has become my tradition for March 27. I first met Michael in the early 1990s, shortly after my beer book was published. He is all but single-handedly responsible for the culture of better beer that exists today. He began writing about good beer in the 1960s and 70s and his writing has influenced (and continues to influence) generations of homebrewers and commercial brewers, many of whom were inspired to start their own breweries by his words. There are few others, if any, that have been so doggedly persistent and passionate about spreading the word about great beer. I know some of my earliest knowledge and appreciation of beer, and especially its history and heritage, came from Michael’s writings. Michael passed away in August 2007. I still miss him, and I suspect I’m not the only one. Join me in drinking a toast to Michael Jackson, the most influential beer writer who’s ever lived.
At the Great Divide Brewing’s media party in Denver over ten years ago.
On stage accepting the first beer writing awards from the Brewers Association with Jim Cline, GM of Rogue, Stan Hieronymus, who writes Real Beer’s Beer Therapy among much else, and Ray Daniels of the Brewers Association.
At GABF in 2006, still wearing the same glasses. But my, oh my, have I changed. Sheesh.
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{ 1 comment… read it below or add one }
Ditto on the early knowledge of beer coming from this guy. I still love to go back and read his stuff. By the way, it is a real shame that when you say Michael Jackson and beer in the same sentence that people still automatically think of the pervert pop singer. I’ll be drinking a beer in the real Michael Jackson’s memory. Oh yeah! I just thought of something he said one time that made me laugh. I remember him writing somewhere that he wish to publish a book that related to him having Parkinson’s disease and assuring people that he was not shaking because he was drunk, but because of the disease. What a sense of humour (note the British spelling).