For those who don't know me, the brightest constellations in my personal universe are food/cooking, music, dance & teaching/writing. When it comes to food, one of stars I sail by is chef/author/TV personality Anthony Bourdain. He apparently hung himself earlier today. It's especially poignant as I'd recently gotten the last work of his I hadn't read yet and I'd finished reading it earlier today when I heard the news.
I have every episode of a Cook's Tour, No Reservations and Parts Unknown backed up on my computer so I can watch them whenever I want. Not only have I (finally) read everything he's written about food, I've even read his works of fiction written while we was still working as a chef. His intelligence was obvious, and I had great affinity for his sense of snark, but what I respected most about him was his level of intellectual and emotional integrity. He was always honest (and also disclosed when he was holding back out of respect for what it takes to be a chef) and at times his anger got the best of him when expressing opinions, but he could acknowledge when he'd gone too far and apologize. He'd traveled and seen enough to be open-minded when meeting people whose world view was mutually exclusive with his. He put it this way in "The Nasty Bits":
'...I mean, if I can drunk with a bunch of probably murderous Russian gangsters and have a good time, why can't I get along with an evangelical Republican from Texas?'
He'd managed to overcome addictions to crack & heroin and parlayed a tell-all book about the restaurant industry into a career many foodies including me, envied: traveling the world exploring ethnic cuisines and getting paid handsomely for it. Granted, the career had its pitfalls, his wife recently divorced him because he was typically on the road eight months of the year, but he was currently dating actress Asia Argento. And while he was on the road (in France), his best friend Eric Ripert (head chef at Le Bernardin in NYC) was traveling with him (and was the one who found the body). I find it unfathomable that even with his best friend close by to confide in, he chose to take his own life. Frankly, I'm stunned.
I'm going to go have a drink and a cigar and further contemplate his passing.
RIP.
