RIP Anthony Bourdain

WeberWho

JohnEggGio said:

JohnEggGio said:

I’m not ready to revere him - I’m pissed at the MF-er!

Whatever the issues he had, he got through 61 years with them.  Stick it out to the end, ya big pu$$y!

3 flags - whatever.  I’m a big fan, thought it might have been the best show on tv.  He and I are the exact same age.  5 minutes from home tonight I turned on the radio - Neil Young’s “The Needle and the Damage Done” - I played it twice - thought about AB and almost cried.

The last few weeks life has kept me busy - I have a few episodes I recorded but I’ve not seen yet.   Don’t know when I’ll watch them, but I will.

He committed the ultimate selfish act - a young daughter who needed him, others who loved him, many relied on him for their livelihoods - he decides he’s had enough?.  “Check please!  I’m outta here!”

He would have said the same damn thing. “Put on your big boy pants, and get through it!”

He “took a walk through this beautiful world” and then pulled the plug - the selfish a-hole.

Everyone takes death differently. I understand where you're coming from. Val Kilmer was close friends with Anthony Bourdain. His statement is very similar to what you wrote. People jumped all over him his statement. He double downed and said that is how he feels. He's pissed. When you look at his statement at a more of a black and white approach it just shows you how much he's going to miss him and sometimes friends are going to tell you how it is. Everyone takes death differently. I don't think there is a right or wrong way to grieve. I think we all can say he will be missed and wish he'd be here for a few more days. Life is funny sometimes 

thetrim

He would've loved Brisket Camp and Butt Blast.

JohnEggGio

@WeberWho. Thanks for your words - you nailed it.  

Last night my 19 year old daughter said to me, “Gosh, dad, I think my whole life you’ve had Anthony Bourdain shows in our DVR.  Even when I was little, I’d go to watch my shows and there was this Anthony Bourdain...”

dharley

It's strange to feel so deeply saddened by the death of someone I never met.

Three of my favorite writers took their own lives: Hemingway, H.S. Thompson and, now, Bourdain. Not for the same reasons, but they all chose when they'd had enough. I wonder if their demons are where their creativity, perhaps genius, comes from?

I agree with those who are angry at him. I am too, but it's selfish. I'm sad because he won't be here to go where I never have and probably never will, to eat and drink and live. I'm sad because I lived vicariously though him. I get up every morning and drive to the hospital and punch in. Tony was, meanwhile, on a beach somewhere eating ceviche of fish that was swimming an hour before.

I'm sad and angry because he left. Me wanting him stay was purely for me. That's what's truly selfish.  

JohnInCarolina

Another nice tribute here:

https://slate.com/human-interest/2018/06/anthony-bourdain-modeled-how-to-be-an-american-abroad.html

“Bourdain presented a model of how Americans could act in the world: open-minded, always curious, and unafraid to sometimes look ridiculous.“

MaskedMarvel

As someone who’s had losses, both from suicide and from violent ends - all unexpected....

i know only one thing:

the power of telling those you love - “I love you” - is unequalled, both to those who hear it from you, and to yourself. Do it. Often. 

YEMTrey

Bourdain marathon on CNN.  Beautiful, yet haunting.

thetrim

http://www.foxnews.com/entertainment/2018/06/10/troubling-signs-leading-up-to-anthony-bourdains-suicide.html

thetrim

He was a fan of Popeye’s chicken at the Atlanta airport.    A sad article that gave a smile at that point.   

JohnInCarolina

thetrim said:

He was a fan of Popeye’s chicken at the Atlanta airport.    A sad article that gave a smile at that point.   

Me too man.  Me too.  Now I know where I’m eating the next time I’m coming through.

thetrim

http://www.startribune.com/writer-of-viral-olive-garden-review-grateful-for-bourdain/485042741/

JohnInCarolina

thetrim said:

http://www.startribune.com/writer-of-viral-olive-garden-review-grateful-for-bourdain/485042741/

A lot of stories like that going around.  He was a good man.

Focker

Cool story.
An Olive Garden is a pretty big deal for a 92yo, in North Dakota mind you. 

thetrim

Living in Lincoln, NE for many years (pop 250k), I can only imagine what the Olive Garden's arrival was like for Gran Forks.

Focker

We got one here finally in December, Moline, IL.
A big deal.
My brother chose to go there for his birthday. Lol
In all honesty, the chicken fettucine I had wasn't terrible.  I went for the breadsticks. 

FearlessTheEggNoob

The guy tapped out on life leaving an 11y/o girl to drown in his wake. At least show the mercy to make it look like an accident. I admired Tony as a writer, but now, as a man, not so much.

Legume

Judged in life, judged in death.  Celebrity sucks and this is tragic regardless.

JohnInCarolina

FearlessTheEggNoob said:

The guy tapped out on life leaving an 11y/o girl to drown in his wake. At least show the mercy to make it look like an accident. I admired Tony as a writer, but now, as a man, not so much.

I think there’s a tendency to associate mental illness with a lack of character, but it is an affliction.  Completing suicide when you have a young daughter isn’t a rational act, and it’s worth trying to understand that this is a serious illness rather than a choice.  The guy was sick.  Ask yourself if you’d feel differently about him had he suddenly died from some other illness.

Focker

With his writing skills, one would think he would have at least penned a final note.  

FearlessTheEggNoob

JohnInCarolina said:

FearlessTheEggNoob said:

The guy tapped out on life leaving an 11y/o girl to drown in his wake. At least show the mercy to make it look like an accident. I admired Tony as a writer, but now, as a man, not so much.

I think there’s a tendency to associate mental illness with a lack of character, but it is an affliction.  Completing suicide when you have a young daughter isn’t a rational act, and it’s worth trying to understand that this is a serious illness rather than a choice.  The guy was sick.  Ask yourself if you’d feel differently about him had he suddenly died from some other illness.

I suppose you're probably right.

blasting

I was a fan, and its very sad AB decided his life had no further value.  I'm concerned though, all this attention, tributes, and wall to wall coverage make suicide even more attractive to those currently contemplating ending things.  A lot of people who pull the plug want attention and to be loved. 

pgprescott

FearlessTheEggNoob said:

JohnInCarolina said:

FearlessTheEggNoob said:

The guy tapped out on life leaving an 11y/o girl to drown in his wake. At least show the mercy to make it look like an accident. I admired Tony as a writer, but now, as a man, not so much.

I think there’s a tendency to associate mental illness with a lack of character, but it is an affliction.  Completing suicide when you have a young daughter isn’t a rational act, and it’s worth trying to understand that this is a serious illness rather than a choice.  The guy was sick.  Ask yourself if you’d feel differently about him had he suddenly died from some other illness.

I suppose you're probably right.

Tough one. On the other hand, maybe sympathizing with him publicly will be the little thing that tragically pushes another to give in. It’s a lose - lose scenario. Hopefully his daughter has some great support and some day finds peace with it. So sad. No need to judge either way really. 

JohnInCarolina

pgprescott said:

FearlessTheEggNoob said:

JohnInCarolina said:

FearlessTheEggNoob said:

The guy tapped out on life leaving an 11y/o girl to drown in his wake. At least show the mercy to make it look like an accident. I admired Tony as a writer, but now, as a man, not so much.

I think there’s a tendency to associate mental illness with a lack of character, but it is an affliction.  Completing suicide when you have a young daughter isn’t a rational act, and it’s worth trying to understand that this is a serious illness rather than a choice.  The guy was sick.  Ask yourself if you’d feel differently about him had he suddenly died from some other illness.

I suppose you're probably right.

Tough one. On the other hand, maybe sympathizing with him publicly will be the little thing that tragically pushes another to give in. It’s a lose - lose scenario. Hopefully his daughter has some great support and some day finds peace with it. So sad. No need to judge either way really. 

Well said Pete.

dharley

JohnInCarolina said:

pgprescott said:

FearlessTheEggNoob said:

JohnInCarolina said:

FearlessTheEggNoob said:

The guy tapped out on life leaving an 11y/o girl to drown in his wake. At least show the mercy to make it look like an accident. I admired Tony as a writer, but now, as a man, not so much.

I think there’s a tendency to associate mental illness with a lack of character, but it is an affliction.  Completing suicide when you have a young daughter isn’t a rational act, and it’s worth trying to understand that this is a serious illness rather than a choice.  The guy was sick.  Ask yourself if you’d feel differently about him had he suddenly died from some other illness.

I suppose you're probably right.

Tough one. On the other hand, maybe sympathizing with him publicly will be the little thing that tragically pushes another to give in. It’s a lose - lose scenario. Hopefully his daughter has some great support and some day finds peace with it. So sad. No need to judge either way really. 

Well said Pete.

I agree that there is no need for judgement. He was sick. He died of his illness. He had a demon inside him. It finally won.

His life and its work can still be celebrated without an * beside it denoting the way it ended.

I don't know what lies beyond this life, but I hope Anthony Bourdain has found his peace.

JohnEggGio

Link to NY Times obit.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/08/business/media/anthony-bourdain-dead.html

Making an effort to better understand, I've been reading comments.  This, by Umi:

The severe agony is located in an invisible, inaccessible place. It's this crushing pain, where suicide really feels like the only way to make it stop...especially when you really need the pain to relent; to stop so you can catch your breath in order to soldier on. It's impossible to put on a salve or take an analgesic of even the greatest strength to just temporarily alleviate the pain; you cannot hide from it beyond a momentary happy diversion. The relentless agony immediately overtakes the reprieve of a happy day, a special occasion or some laughs.
Anti-depressants (et al)and plethora of methods to alleviate mental despair, anguish, depression are not necessarily strong enough but perhaps what's worse is there is no "fail safe" at that darkest moment: there's not an "epi pen" or "rescue inhaler" or shot of morphine to mitigate an acute attack of that grey gloom that feels like an unstoppable and unsolvable problem.
Sadly, there is no pause button and it is my fervent belief that those who succumb to suicide have tried relentlessly to stay here with their loved ones. But just like any other illness, some cases are terminal. A suicidal person most likely fought valiently until the end to keep from succumbing to a wretched end...I venture no loving person would foist such a legacy on their loved ones if they honestly felt as if they had a choice.

GATraveller

This is the kind of stuff I'm going to miss. The guy was real in a world of smoke and mirrors. 
https://youtu.be/cX_kbIVxl_o

GrillSgt

He definitely was real. I don’t think I have ever found any celeb that was more likable. 

JohnEggGio

CNN running a tribute tonight at 10.

JohnInCarolina

JohnEggGio said:

CNN running a tribute tonight at 10.

You get the sense that everyone who works at CNN got to know him, and that he was widely respected/adored.

The Cen-Tex Smoker

Just downloaded the Kitchen Confidential audiobook. Read the original twice; thought this would be a cool way to experience in his voice. 

Also saw a great AB quote on the Hot Luck Festival twitter (Ay-Ayron’s festival of all things beer and meat) today. Something like “Good Barbecue is not the answer to world peace, but it’s a good start”