CNN's Anthony Bourdain dead (suicide reported)

[DFJ]

This is awful. I loved this guy.

 

[Buzz]

I am so shocked! I love his show! Those CNN anchors were in tears! May he rest in peace.

 

[ribbon]

This is awful. I loved this guy.

His parts unknown shows were so interesting and he had a fabulous way of getting people to open up and be very genuine with him. He made the world a smaller, more intimate place. May his family take comfort in knowing that.

 

[Gazpacho]

In one of his books he mentioned a drug problem. Maybe that has something to do with it, though I don't know what the direction of causation would be. Very sad news.

 

[quartz]

Between the horrible PC majority win in Ontario last night, and this news first thing this morning, I can’t read any more news today. Heartbreaking.

 

[Catherine M]

Such sad news to wake up to this morning. May he rest in peace and his family--especially his daughter, friends and coworkers, find comfort during this difficult time.

 

[Aceon6]

So sad. He fought the demons for so long.

 

[Sylvia]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/08/us/anthony-bourdain-obit/index.html

Anthony Bourdain, a gifted storyteller and writer who took CNN viewers around the world, has died. He was 61.
CNN confirmed Bourdain's death on Friday and said the cause of death was suicide.
"It is with extraordinary sadness we can confirm the death of our friend and colleague, Anthony Bourdain," the network said in a statement Friday morning. "His love of great adventure, new friends, fine food and drink and the remarkable stories of the world made him a unique storyteller. His talents never ceased to amaze us and we will miss him very much. Our thoughts and prayers are with his daughter and family at this incredibly difficult time."
Bourdain was in France working on an upcoming episode of his award-winning CNN series "Parts Unknown." His close friend Eric Ripert, the French chef, found Bourdain unresponsive in his hotel room Friday morning.

 

[Twilight1]

Between the horrible PC majority win in Ontario last night, and this news first thing this morning, I can’t read any more news today. Heartbreaking.

This. Agree 100%

 

[clairecloutier]

In related news, the CDC reported yesterday that overall suicide rates in the U.S. have increased by 25% since 1999. Suicide is among the top 10 causes of death in the U.S., apparently, and suicide rates rose in nearly every state. It is quite worrisome and sad.

 

[Andora]

 

[kittyjake5]

Sad news. RIP

 

[Veronika]

I am truly in shock--he had so much to live for (his young daughter, his TV show, his friends and family) and so much life in him. He was a very gifted writer and TV host, he will be missed.

Suicide is so awful in that it hurts the person's friends and family more than anyone else.

 

[skatesindreams]

His parts unknown shows were so interesting and he had a fabulous way of getting people to open up and be very genuine with him. He made the world a smaller, more intimate place. May his family take comfort in knowing that.

Those CNN anchors were in tears! May he rest in peace.

So sad. He fought the demons for so long.

What a tragedy.
He was a visionary. I learned so much from him.

 

[just tuned in]

I'm devastated. :-(

 

[NeilJLeonard]

NJL(...RIP...)

 

[Frau Muller]

Very sad. RIP.

 

[Jenny]

This essay from 2012 is worth a read - but have tissues handy as it's about his father, and his daughter.

 

[judiz]

I am truly in shock--he had so much to live for (his young daughter, his TV show, his friends and family) and so much life in him. He was a very gifted writer and TV host, he will be missed.

Suicide is so awful in that it hurts the person's friends and family more than anyone else.

Unfortunately people are in such mental distress that ending the pain and relieving their loved ones of the burden of their care superceded everything else.

 

[elka_sk8]

I teared up when I heard this on the radio this morning. A few years ago when we were planning our honeymoon to Vietnam, virtually everyone we talked to thought we were crazy. Watching his episodes about Vietnam inspired us and in a way reassured us that we were about to have an amazing adventure (which we did). May he RIP.

 

[overedge]

I teared up when I heard this on the radio this morning. A few years ago when we were planning our honeymoon to Vietnam, virtually everyone we talked to thought we were crazy. Watching his episodes about Vietnam inspired us and in a way reassured us that we were about to have an amazing adventure (which we did). May he RIP.

This is exactly why I loved his show. I watched some episodes where he went to places I had visited, and he was so good at capturing the feel of a place, not just going to the tourist places everyone knows.

There was an article in People magazine about him just a few weeks ago. It said that he never did hair or makeup for filming - what you saw was what he really was - and that he traveled with a crew of six, most of whom had been working with him since his first TV show in the early 2000s. I'm thinking of that crew today and how devastated they must be too

 

[clairecloutier]

My friend Sarah, who writes The Finer Sports skating blog, penned a tribute to Anthony Bourdain: http://thefinersports.com/2018/06/missing-anthony-bourdain/

 

[MacMadame]

In related news, the CDC reported yesterday that overall suicide rates in the U.S. have increased by 25% since 1999. Suicide is among the top 10 causes of death in the U.S., apparently, and suicide rates rose in nearly every state. It is quite worrisome and sad.

I saw that news too. Thought they called it a spike. Except something that spans decades seems more like a trend to me.

According to this article, suicides can spike after a celebrity commits suicide and they have some guidelines that have shown how the media reported on it can have an impact on whether that happens or not and by how much:
https://www.vox.com/first-person/2018/5/5/17319632/kate-spade-cause-of-death-suicide-celebrities-reporting

 

[skategal]

I saw that news too. Thought they called it a spike. Except something that spans decades seems more like a trend to me.

According to this article, suicides can spike after a celebrity commits suicide and they have some guidelines that have shown how the media reported on it can have an impact on whether that happens or not and by how much:
https://www.vox.com/first-person/2018/5/5/17319632/kate-spade-cause-of-death-suicide-celebrities-reporting

Yes my husband and I were wondering how much Bourdain may have been influenced by Kate Spade's death and the media reporting of it....especially the sympathy expressed towards her in leaving a young child behind.

 

[Gazpacho]

This will be a very unpopular post, but it needs to be said. If you are in the United States, don't call a suicide hotline unless you are prepared to endure the following: have police knock down your door, handcuff you, and stuff you in a police car in front of all your neighbors and anyone else who might be watching; lose your job because you can't communicate to your employer or anyone else while in the hospital; be sexually and/or physically assaulted by hospital staff; report the abuse and be punished for lying (remember that you're reporting it to those with work relationships with the abusers and are probably already aware since there's no way you're the only patient who has experienced it); have everything you say or do, including showing up wearing black clothes, met with suspicion; be officially punished for asking too many questions (this will be the official stated reason on your chart); have no privacy including on the toilet; pay thousands of dollars while losing your job (see above); return to your home to find that you have been evicted due to the police incident (see above); find out that the only follow up from the hospital staff is from the billing department; be harrassed by debt collectors; suffer decades of PTSD from said experience.

Does this happen to everyone who calls a suicide hotline? Certainly not. But you need to know that it's a possibility.

And if you call a suicide hotline in the United States because you are depressed and not imminently suicidal, be prepared to be chastised for wasting their time because they are there to prevent suicides and not to talk to depressed people, and then be hung up on.

Instead of calling a suicide hotline in the United States, call Samaritans in the UK. They actually care.

 

[mollymgr]

https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/08/us/anthony-bourdain-obit/index.html

He was unique in the way he respected cuisine from all corners of the world and brought it into our lives. He wasn't afraid to venture into the most humble places to help us see it through his eyes.

"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," he said, "we tend to get some really astonishing answers."

RIP

 

[Gazpacho]

I forgot to mention, if you are a minority race, particularly an immigrant, be particularly wary. There is so much racism in psychiatric hospitals including from minority race staff. Don't speak to another patient in a lesser known foreign language unless there is a maintenance staff member who you can turn to to vouch that you weren't speaking in hallucinations. Even in a hospital in a very diverse city.

Yikes, thinking about this has triggered something. I'm crying and shaking at the flashbacks.

 

[overedge]

My friend Sarah, who writes The Finer Sports skating blog, penned a tribute to Anthony Bourdain: http://thefinersports.com/2018/06/missing-anthony-bourdain/

Thank you for sharing this link, Claire. This is a wonderful post.

As a vegetarian who hasn't fallen off the wagon, I actually agreed with a lot of what Tony said about vegetarians - not about how a meal isn't complete without some dead animal component, but about the general attitude of superiority and morality. And he was totally right about how vegans tend to be even more superior and moralistic than vegetarians. I always wanted to meet him and give him a hug and tell him that even though he didn't like people who eat like I do, I still liked him

(As it happens last night I ended up eating a wrap sandwich with ham in it -long story - so I'm going to consider that little quirk of the universe my G-dspeed to him.)

 

[Sylvia]

Eric Ripert's and Asia Argento's tweets are included here: http://time.com/5306636/eric-ripert-statement-anthony-bourdain-death/

He has left his mark in restaurant kitchens and libraries — both fiction and nonfiction. And as The Times obituary said, “as an author and then a host,” he had redefined “the staid genres of food writing and food-tourism shows with an inquisitive but rebellious image that endeared him to fellow chefs, restaurant-goers and travelers.”

Here is what to read, what to watch and what to listen to by and about Anthony Bourdain.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/08/books/best-of-anthony-bourdain.html

 

[Susan1]

Does this happen to everyone who calls a suicide hotline? Certainly not. But you need to know that it's a possibility.

I can tell you that they tell you to think of a happier time. Well, hell, when you are depressed and no longer have any happy times that does not help. And to talk to family or friends. And, duh, if you could do that why would you be calling them. I guess it only works if you want some stranger to literally talk you off a ledge. Or call 911 and have you locked up.

Apparently, rich, famous people who commit suicide have a chemical imbalance in their brains. The nobodies who have no family or friends or success or future are just SOL.