Charlie Papazian is one of the most prominent and recognized names in the world of beer and brewing. His published commentaries provide insights into the industry, advice to homebrewers, and beer reviews for consumers.
In 1979 Papazian founded the Association of Brewers and headed that organization as President until 2005, when the Association of Brewers merged with the 63-year-old Brewers Association of America, and Papazian was named President of the combined organization. Papazian also founded the American Homebrewers Association in 1978, a group that is also now under the umbrella of the Brewers Association. Other organizations and annual events subsequently founded by Papazian include the Institute for Brewing Studies, Brewers Publications, the Great American Beer Festival, the World Beer Cup, as well as magazines Zymurgy for homebrewers and The New Brewer for small, professional craft brewers.

In 1984, Papazian wrote his first book on home brewing titled The Complete Joy of Home Brewing, which saw 25 reprintings, 3 editions, and has sold over 1,000,000 copies. This was the first American mass-market book, which provided in-depth information on subject of how to brew beer in the home. Often, The Complete Joy of Home Brewing was the only information source for amateur home brewers in US. Consequently, the book has gained iconic status among America's home brewing community, who have referred to it as the "home brewer's bible."
Papazian has since written more books, among which are Microbrewed Adventures (2005), The New Complete Joy of Home Brewing (1984, 1991), the Complete Joy of Home Brewing, 3rd Edition (2003), The Home Brewer's Companion (1994), Home Brewer's Gold (1997), The Best of Zymurgy (1998), The Interactive New Complete Joy of Home Brewing CD-ROM.
Charlie Papazian lives in Boulder, Colorado with his wife, Sandra, where he avidly brews lagers, ales, and honey meads.

Sources:
http://aob.org/events/otr/aboutcp.html
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charlie_Papazian.