Woke up to the news this morning that Anthony Bourdain committed suicide in France. Bourdain carried some weight in our household. Marilyn wanted to be him when she grows up. The travel, the storytelling, the cultural exploration through the medium of food all carried strong appeal. It seemed that the man had an ideal life — but, as is so often the case, we don’t see from the outside the Black Dog ever lurking in the shadows, ready to sink his teeth deep into the soul and tear it out.
I will raise a glass and fire up a Gurkha this weekend in a salute to a Storyteller gone beyond the veil. And I’ll think of Bourdain stalking deer in the Scottish Highlands, something he said was the most demanding thing he’d ever done on camera. His visible emotion at the kill was truly moving — it was a poignant moment, not played for manipulation, but a genuine expression of the Ortega y Gasset observation that one kills in order to have hunted.
Matthew says
Bourdain was an interesting guy, but he was always troubled man. He used to be a heroin addict.
Paul McNamee says
I find it fascinating that Bourdain wound up being friends with Mike Ruffino, one of three hellraisers from The Unband, and Ruffino did music arrangements for NO RESERVATIONS.
https://vimeo.com/68014032
I believe at least one Unband reunion gig was as Bourdain’s behest.
Thomas Eley says
Unbelievable! Very sad.
JimC says
A friend of Anthony Bourdain wrote…
His swagger, his prose, his grit. Tony didn’t give a fuck the way most of us wish we could. That’s what made him special. Right now He, Bukowski, Hemingway and Wilde are splitting a bottle of scotch, swapping war stories, prepared to drink each other under the table, with verve.
Matthew says
He, Bukowski, Hemingway and Wilde—
That would be an interesting group to hang around. Though I have to wonder what Hemingway would think of Wilde.
Greg Marshall says
Hemingway would be openly snide about Wilde’s sexuality. Wilde would be wonderfully cutting about Hemingway’s vanity and hypocrisy. Both would laugh, and hoist another glass.
JimC says
Reckon you have the right of it.
James Higbie says
Throw into the mix Hunter Thompson.
JimC says
Yes. And, I’m thinking, Warren Zevon.
Mrs.P says
Jim Harrison, Daniel Woodrell and Donald Ray Pollock he kept company with.
“………because he was the one person out there in mainstream culture
who always seemed decent without being self righteous, and interesting
without being precious”. (kickhimhoney@instagram)
Katie Williams says
My husband Jim and I LOVED Bourdain. Jim could especially identify with his irreverence toward society and what people thought. It was always a “date” for Jim and I to record Tony’s shows and then have our dinner while watching and laughing at his escapades. I always suffered from wanderlust and lived vicariously through Tony. I feel such a sense of loss at his passing. Kind of a double loss because I so wanted to be able to share it with my husband and talk about our memories of Tony. But, alas, he is gone too. Perhaps he is having a shot of tequila with Tony, Hemingway, Wilde and maybe even Christopher Hitchens.
JimC says
Ah, Katie…
Hold onto that image. It’s a righteous one.
Reno Sepulveda says
This celebrity death hit Casa Sepulveda hard. You let a guy into your home week after week, year after year… you think you know him right? Sure was only on the TV set but still.
I’ll just come out and say it, Anthony Bourdain was The Hemingway of our time. Shit he was a better and more prolific than Hemingway. I hope he had an idea of just how good his work was and the impact it had.