Sarcastic Coffee Aficionado
I will be quite frank. I am quite surprised that this thread is ..... dead.
*mumbles to myself*
Tony's suicide has hit me very hard. Just days after Kate Spade. There have been many suicides of famous people; some you admire, some you didn't of know too well. But nonetheless, some that hits you harder than others.
Tony's death has been, my one of 3 suicides in the last year that has made me physically and emotionally hurt.
Chester Bennington
Chris Cornell
and Tony
I have suffered with depression on and off since I miscarried my first pregnancy years ago.
Those of us who suffer, know how easy it is to slide...... no amount of money, dreams, love, friends, goals can change a slide when it happens.
I know .... I know that slide so well.
The isolation. The overwhelming urge to say fuck it. The disinterest. The pain you just wish would magically evaporate.
but ..... it doesn't. The clouds change from white .... to endless greys ....... grey .... grey ..... the numb grey.
The wish for sleep to take you away to some place where it feels right ...... or take you away ..... and never return to reality.
Anyways .... sorry for the ramble .....
Van
I actually just today watched a few episodes of his most recent season. Armenia, Newfoundland and West Virginia. Places on the fringe. The West Virginia one was especially strange since it had to be followed up by a disclaimer about the Las Vegas shooting and Parkland shooting.
Really makes me want to travel more.
He was one of my favourite celebrities and human beings.
This one hit me hard too.
I've spent many a family holiday binge watching marathons of Parts Unknown. Much like his show depicts, it's something that brings people together, despite conflict and tension.
His episodes in the Middle East were compelling and ground breaking, especially the ones in Iran and the Palestinian territories, giving human faces and stories to regions that are often not seen as sympathetic in western media.
This is such a tremendous loss for so many people. He definitely lived a life that most envied. He made people curious about the world and all the things that make us different, and yet the same.
Ironic that the same holds true for depression and suicide. We're all different - status, education, fame, money - but we can all be gripped and humbled and even taken down by it.
I knew that Tony cared deeply for the world and its people. This is an especially hard time for those of us who do. Another incredible loss for humanity.
Did they ever say why he committed suicide?
I am rarely carried away with grief for celebrities beyond saying 'that's too bad" but this death really hit me. Anthony Bourdain was articulate and adventurous. He was a splendid writer and creator of documentaries that showed us so much more than food. That was the entryway to the culture of other people, learning about their lives and countries in the most human way. He was never smug or condescending and could relate with anyone anywhere over a meal. He taught us to walk away from the tourist areas of well known places to explore the neighbourhoods where people live and work and eat. That is how you get to know another country and people.
I will never forget the hilarious episode in Sicily (or perhaps it was Naples) where he arranged to go out fishing. He donned snorkeling gear and when he was in the water dead octopi were being tossed from two boats into the water to make him think that he was fishing for them. His outrage at this stupid scam was well deserved. There were many other episodes that took me to places I had never been and some that I had visited but not seen through his eyes. I recorded his show weekly and watched it with pleasure. I am grateful for sharing his adventures vicariously.
Tony Bourdain conquered heroin and cocaine addiction and various other excesses. He made a life for himself that seemed like a charmed one from the outside. It said he was away over 200 days annually. I wonder if this constant motion was part of being bipolar. Who knows? Clearly there were demons and darkness that he could not overcome, culminating in his suicide. I ache for his daughter and his friend Eric Ripert who found him. I hope his friends and loved ones find peace and that if there is another life somewhere that he too has found peace. He would be at a dinner table having great food, wine and conversation with other interesting people who are gone.
This is so, so sad.
I am sure I am in the minority but he was a coward and gave up on life, when there is nothing better than living. I have little sympathy for those that take their own life and that is with one of my closest friends attempting suicide herself. I will do everything in my power to show her that suicide is never the answer no matter how bad you think life is. There are always people in the world that have it worse off than you do.
Seeing the news of Bourdain's passing definitely hurt. 'No Reservations' was always on my short must-watch list and hotly anticipated each week. I confess to having been a little jealous of Ottavia. It's interesting to discover his 'A Cook's Tour' series and a seemingly more mellow persona.
Going to put on the episode where he returns with his brother to a childhood summer home in the seaside village of Arcachon.
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