17.04.1970 – 28.10.2022
It was with shock and great sadness that the family informed us of the passing of our dear friend Jonathan.
I first met Jonathan at the Bon Accord (Glasgow) some twenty years ago on his return from work duties in Aberdeen, a Procurator Fiscal, a handy person to know. Clearly an educated man, we exchanged discoveries in the world of Progressive Rock.
The München Okotoberfest was his – big thing, so unsurprisingly, on my retiral, we were able to visit midweek, as Jonathan always insisted was better. I may have introduced him to Buttenheim, but it was he who led the way to the Bock Tappings.
The Glasgow Real Ale Festival (G-RAF) would never have been resurrected in 2014 without Jonathans’ drive and input. Since then, Johnathan has gone on to hold office for CAMRA, the Campaign for Real Ale.
Additionally, he was a key player in BSF – Bieres Sans Frontieres – us chaps who serve at the Foreign Bar at CAMRA festivals.
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That I am able to post this page at all, is down to Johnathan. One morning in München, he came down to breakfast and informed us that he had launched a Blog – Bier-Today. Hector was given co-authoring rights. From this evolved Curry-Heute, Jonathan contributed one post for Shenaz (Glasgow).
In time Bier-Traveller was launched in which Jonathan would regularly feature. Our final trip together was in September 2022, Het Waterhuis aan de Bierkant remained a favourite venue, a fitting place for the last photos I would take.
Our thoughts are with the family, whom we all know well.
Antwerpen Centraal, September 2022.
(to be continued…)
Thank you for that fine tribute, Hector. Jonathan was a great guy to have as a pal. He was friendly, funny and smart. He was also kind and helpful. He will be sorely missed. My sincere condolences to his family and many friends.
Hector replies:
Thank you, Neil.
Ironically, one of the last text conversations I had with Jonathan was about the – vocative comma…as you so ably demonstrated.