Michael Jackson (writer)

Michael Jackson
Jackson in 2004 at Helsinki Beer Festival
Born	Michael James Jackson (1942-03-27)27 March 1942 Wetherby, West Riding of Yorkshire, England
Died	30 August 2007(2007-08-30) (aged 65) London, England
Cause of death	Cardiac arrest due to complications with Parkinson's Disease and diabetes
Known for	Beer and whisky reviewing and journalism
Partner(s)	Paddy Gunningham (1981—2007)
Website	Michael Jackson's Beer HunterRare Beer Club founder

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 British broadsheets, particularly The Independent and The Observer.

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

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

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 drunk.

Jackson was born in Wetherby, West Riding of Yorkshire. His father had Anglicised his Lithuanian Jewish surname Jakowitz to Jackson. The family moved to Leeds after the war. He went to King James's Grammar School, Almondbury and became a journalist, particularly being associated with Edinburgh, where he first encountered whisky. On his return to London he briefly edited the advertising trade journal Campaign.

Michael Jackson became known in beer circles in 1977 when his book The World Guide To Beer was first published. This was later translated into more than ten languages and is still considered to be one of the most fundamental books on the subject. The modern theory of beer style is largely derived from this book, in which Jackson categorised a variety of beers from around the world in local style groups suggested by local customs and names.