Anthony Bourdain is dead

[BMW F22]

That is very sad. All the suicides recently are just sad. In recent trips to Asia (particularly Vietnam), we went out of our way to eat at some of the places Anthony had recommended. I loved his “no reservations” show and thought how awesome his love for Vietnam was. He wanted to move there with his family some years back. He has friends all over the world. Just really sad to hear the news. He’s in a better place now. Hope his family gets through this.

[Hawkeye]

Kate Spade just a day or two ago left behind a daughter as well. I really will never understand what causes people to do this (thankfully).

[Never_Enough]

Originally Posted by Not_Judy

I share the same sentiments. As a child of a parent that committed suicide, there really isn't a more terrible burden to put on your kids. I really like Bourdain but this definitely changes my opinion of him. Still respected but....mixed emotions I suppose.

What about not giving a shit about your kids & going out of your way to harm them as a child in many ways? I think living a life of that is worse than that.

[Never_Enough]

Originally Posted by Hawkeye

Kate Spade just a day or two ago left behind a daughter as well. I really will never understand what causes people to do this (thankfully).

Yes, depression is no joke. It can destroy a person.

[Kid Eh]

It really boggles my mind how ignorant some of you people are by saying they can't understand how he would do something like that to his kid. YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!! So shut up and say nothing. You're basically saying what an idiot and how dare him do something like that. Get over yourselves!!!

[Sea-Tac]

There is a good piece in today's Washington Post editorial section about him...

Here it is...

"I don’t know if anyone reads the poet Edwin Arlington Robinson anymore, but I turned to him almost immediately after I got the news that television host Anthony Bourdain had died of an apparent suicide. I was shocked. Bourdain’s TV shows were only incidentally about food, it seemed to me. They were about life: loving it, engulfing it and never, of course, tiring of it. It took a moment or two for me to recall that Bourdain had had a spot of trouble with drugs and that he was too thin, given how much he was shown eating. Something was wrong.

What was wrong was how the camera does not show depression. What was wrong is how we often accept appearances for reality. What was wrong is how the look of a person gets taken for the entirety of the person.

The Robinson poem I turned to is called “Richard Cory.” It was taught to me in school, the eighth grade, probably, but no matter what grade, it seems too cynical — to honest — to be taught in school at all. It is about Richard Cory, “clean favored, and imperially slim,” who is the envy of everyone in town.

And he was rich—yes, richer than a king—
And admirably schooled in every grace:
In fine, we thought that he was everything
To make us wish that we were in his place.

So on we worked, and waited for the light,
And went without the meat, and cursed the bread;
And Richard Cory, one calm summer night,
Went home and put a bullet through his head.

There you have it: a last line that has been with me most of my life. There you have it: the story of Anthony Bourdain and Kate Spade as well. She was yet another person to envy, yet another person of wealth and beauty and talent and sunny in all the publicity shots, who killed herself just days ago.

Edwin Arlington Robinson had a tough life. He won the Pulitzer Prize three times, but he never made much money — he was a poet, after all. He got a sinecure from President Theodore Roosevelt, who liked his poems and knew Robinson was broke. The poet died in 1935, leaving some indelible poems — “Miniver Cheevy” is another — and a last line that endures, like a bullet that entered in the eighth grade and has never been removed.

Anthony Bourdain, R.I.P."

[PINeely]

Originally Posted by Kid Eh

It really boggles my mind how ignorant some of you people are by saying they can't understand how he would do something like that to his kid. YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!! So shut up and say nothing. You're basically saying what an idiot and how dare him do something like that. Get over yourselves!!!

By that metric since none of us have ourselves committed suicide, we should all shut up and say nothing and dissolve the thread.

"Can't understand" and "don't understand" are not mutually exclusive. And you have a lot of parents in here some of whom having kids saved/ redirected their lives. To them, Anthony's suicide flies in the face of that responsibility.

[wrickem]

My company is his publisher and whenever I randomly saw him he was always friendly and upbeat. Always a cheerful "hello, how've you been". It shows you never know what's behind the public mask we all wear. Very sad. He was a nice man.

[King Rudi]

Originally Posted by Never_Enough

What about not giving a shit about your kids & going out of your way to harm them as a child in many ways? I think living a life of that is worse than that.

I couldn't tell you what's worse. I got both so I can't differentiate between the two. I will say that it made me feel guilty to be relieved that the abuse was over, but it also came at cost. It was lose, lose, lose all the way around. The only upside of this situation is that it made me stronger person and made me pay more attention to those around me.....right before I became a recluse and forced everyone away from me because I could now see through their bullshit and manipulation. It was like being in a room full of monkeys watching them all fling poo at each other and blaming the others as to why they were doing it. I simply chose to walk away and live life in peace....they're still flinging poo and judge me for not.

[Captain Blood]

Was he bipolar?

[jgoens]

What a loss. He was a very interesting guy and will leave a void as there really was no other show like his.

[Lups]

Originally Posted by BEM-S4

Just don't know how someone chooses to force their child to bury them.

I don't think a depressed person can think anything but themselves. You're either questioning the condition or you're being really mean.

I agree that a suicide is a selfish solution. It's just that the underlying illness doesn't give the person suffering from it options often.

[JasonCSU]

Such sad news. I loved his shows and way of story telling. I always felt like I learned something new each time I watched, or became inspired to try something different. I knew he had his demons and it is awful they caught up with him. Hopefully he has now found peace, though I feel terrible for his daughter. I can only imagine what she is going through.

[F30dud]

i was a big fan of his shows on netflix, this is insane...i cannot believe it...RIP

[Hawkeye]

Originally Posted by Kid Eh

It really boggles my mind how ignorant some of you people are by saying they can't understand how he would do something like that to his kid. YOU DON'T UNDERSTAND!!! So shut up and say nothing. You're basically saying what an idiot and how dare him do something like that. Get over yourselves!!!

Ummm, yeah. That is exactly what I said. I will never understand depression, thankfully. My ex had depression and it was just never something that I could grasp, and due to that we didn't work out. I was always trying to "solve it" and make her feel better but it just doesn't work like that... hence, I don't understand it.

[Never_Enough]

Originally Posted by Lups

I don't think a depressed person can think anything but themselves. You're either questioning the condition or you're being really mean.

I agree that a suicide is a selfish solution. It's just that the underlying illness doesn't give the person suffering from it options often.

Define illness

[Lups]

Originally Posted by Never_Enough

Define illness

A condition that takes over the person.

[F32Fleet]

Dammit, reading a piece on him with photos and Pandora starts playing "Adagio for Strings" .


I need a beer.

[slalomfever]

felt genuinely saddened by this news. I saw parts of the world that I would never even think of visiting through his shows.

RIP

[1MOREMOD]

I wouldnt say I'm depressed but dont think its very hard at all to understand why someone would do this.

[HFW003]

Originally Posted by 1MOREMOD

I wouldnt say I'm depressed but dont think its very hard at all to understand why someone would do this.

I was once in a really dark place and the only thing that got me through was not wanting to miss out on seeing my Son grow up.

It must be so hard to think the only solution to whatever is going on in your life is to end it, very sad.

I always thought he was one of life’s “cool dudes”.

There seems to be so many more suicides nowadays?

RIP.

[BSM n54iS]

Originally Posted by HFW003

There seems to be so many more suicides nowadays?

RIP.

No, just more news telling us about it