Famed Haitian brewer Michael Madsen, who regarded Jamaica as his second home, died recently of a heart attack. According to a report in the MiamiHerald.com, the 65-year-old Madsen died last Saturday while entertaining friends at his mountain home near Kenscoff, a suburb just outside of Haiti's capital Port-au-Prince.

As a visionary, he formed his own political party in Haiti - the Haitian Liberal Party. As an entrepreneur, he gave the country one of its best-known commercial exports: Prestige Beer. The catalyst for his vision of a brewery in Haiti was initiated by the former Desnoes and Geddes Group in Jamaica, original brewer of Red Stripe Beer.

''Haiti was his life. Haiti was his blood. All he did was to make Haiti better,'' said Dorothy Chancy, longtime friend and marketing director for Brasserie Nationale d'Haiti, Madsen's company.

Made headlines

Though well-known in Haiti's small but elite business community, Madsen made international headlines in 2000 when Prestige bested 19 other beers to win the international Gold Medal at the World Beer Cup. Four years later, Madsen announced expansion to Miami, Turks and Caicos and Haiti.

Madsen's family emigrated to the Caribbean island from Denmark in 1896.

After attending school in France and Georgetown University in Washington, D.C., Madsen returned to Haiti and in 1973 founded the brewery.

He was a fisherman of no mean order and every year entered the fishing tournament in Port Antonio, Jamaica, where he boated the largest Marlin last year. He will be missed by his associates and friends in Jamaica.