STORYTELLER ANTHONY BOURDAIN HAS DIED. THE CREATIVE MIND BEHIND CNN’S PARTS UNKNOWN WAS IN FRANCE FILMING AN UPCOMING EPISODE WHEN HE TOOK HIS OWN LIFE.
ALEX MARQUARDT LOOKS BACK ON BOURDAIN’S INCREDIBLE JOURNEY HERE ON EARTH.
“TO ME, ONE OF LIFE’S GREAT JOYS IS CHEESE.” FOR ANTHONY BOURDAIN THE RECIPE FOR UNDERSTANDING PEOPLE, UNDERSTANDING CULTURES AROUND THE WORLD, AND CREATING A HIT TV SHOW COULDN’T BE MORE STRAIGHTFORWARD. “WE ASK VERY SIMPLE QUESTIONS, ‘WHAT MAKES YOU HAPPY, WHAT DO YOU EAT, WHAT DO YOU LIKE TO COOK’ AND EVERYWHERE IN THE WORLD WE GO AND ASK THESE VERY SIMPLE QUESTIONS, WE TEND TO GET SOME ASTONISHING ANSWERS.” BOURDAIN WAS FOUND DEAD FRIDAY MORNING BY A FRIEND IN A HOTEL ROOM IN FRANCE WHERE HE WAS FILMING FOR HIS AWARD-WINNING CNN SHOW PARTS UNKNOWN.
THE CAUSE OF HIS DEATH WAS SUICIDE. BOURDAIN STARTED WORKING IN KITCHENS AT A YOUNG AGE AND HAD BECOME A CELEBRITY CHEF AND AUTHOR AS HE MADE HIS WAY INTO TELEVISION. THE SMITHSONIAN CALLED HIM THE ORIGINAL ROCK STAR OF THE CULINARY WORLD; THE ELVIS OF BAD-BOY CHEFS. IT WAS HIS WAY WITH WORDS. HIS IRREVERENCE CURIOSITY EASE AND WARMTH THAT FUELED HIS MASSIVE FOLLOWING. BOURDAIN DIDN’T SHY AWAY FROM TALKING ABOUT PAST DEMONS– HEAVY DRUG USE THAT INCLUDED AN ADDICTION TO HEROIN, AS WELL AS COCAINE USE — SO BAD HE SAID HE SHOULD HAVE DIED IN HIS 20’S BUT INSTEAD LIVED WHAT HE CALLED A CHARMED LIFE.
“MASSACHUSETTS IS QUITE a SMALL TOWN AMERICA.” HE ADDRESSED HIS PAST HEAD ON WHILE HIGHLIGHTING THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC IN MASSACHUSETTS IN AN EPISODE OF HIS SHOW. “BUT I THOUGHT I’D START THE SHOW BY RETURNING TO PROVINCETOWN ALL THE WAY OUT ON THE TIP OF CAPE COD WHICH IS WHERE AT AGE 17 I STARTED WASHING DISHES AND STARTED WORKING IN THE RESTAURANT BUSINESS AND AS A SUMMER JOB AND BEGAN MY SORT OF TRAJECTORY INTO BOTH THE RESTAURANT BUSINESS AND INTO DRUGS. BOURDAIN CAME TO CNN IN 2013 BRINGING HIS SHOW TO A GLOBAL AUDIENCE. THROUGHOUT HIS TV CAREER, HE WON AWARD AFTER AWARD. “FIRST ORDER OF BUSINESS DINNER.” IT WAS THE FOOD THAT LURED PEOPLE IN, BUT VIEWERS KNEW IT WAS ABOUT SO MUCH MORE. “INCREDIBLE!” QUICKLY FINDING THEMSELVES IMMERSED IN AN EXPERIENCE THAT FOCUSED ON PEOPLE, EXOTIC PLACES, AND FAITHS FROM AROUND THE WORLD.
Size:84% HE INSISTED HE WASN’T A JOURNALIST, BUT OVER THE YEARS FORGED A UNIQUE STYLE OF STORYTELLING THAT WAS UNMATCHED. BOURDAIN WAS 61. IF YOU HAVE CONSIDERED SUICIDE, THERE IS HELP, SUCH AS THE SUICIDE PREVENTION HOTLINE. YOU CAN FIND THAT NUMBER ON OUR WEBSITE AT WSAV-DOT COM SLASH CRISIS HOTLINE.
As found on Youtube
