When someone dies, it is all but impossible not to reference that person in terms of one’s own life. That makes a writer—well, this writer, at least—uncomfortable, since the moment should be dedicated to the departed, rather than those he left behind. Still, how can proper tribute be paid without passages on how they affected those who surrounded them on this little blue planet of ours?
And so it is with Michael Jackson, who died peacefully at his home in London on August 30. He was 65 years old.
Even for those in the hospitality industry better familiar with his international pop star namesake than with one of the iconic beverage writers of our time, Michael’s impact was nothing less than pivotal. Michael was instrumental in the development of the American craft beer market, not to mention the markets for similar beers in his native England as well as Scotland, Belgium, Japan and many other nations across the globe.
His work, which includes at least two of the most important beer books ever published, his tireless travel and his genial attitude inspired countless young brewers and beer aficionados around the world.
It is not an exaggeration to say that without Michael’s efforts, the beer world would be but a shadow of what it is today.
On a personal level, over the course of the eighteen or so years that I have been writing about beer and other beverages, Michael was never anything but fully supportive, offering advice when requested and a pat on the back when not. Although we most often found ourselves chatting in hotel lobbies or convention center corridors, and every so often on stage, tasting in a very public setting, I thought of him as more friend than colleague, and more mentor than anything else.
Michael’s other passion was doing the same for whiskey as he did for beer, furthering its appreciation through his tireless writing of books, articles and columns.
Outside of his professional life, he was ceaselessly amicable, with his charmingly dry wit seemingly always turned on and an anecdote ever at ready. As much as we mourn the loss of an accomplished writer, an even greater man will be missed all the more.