Anthony Bourdain 1956 - 2018
Same as many of us, I am gutted and stunned by today's news about Anthony Bourdain.
Anthony Bourdain was an influencer in a purer, more visceral definition of the term than what it currently means. A writer isn't a writer who doesn't live what they write, and so was Bourdain a co-creator, meaning also an elder and an owner, of the arena of lifestyle writing, reporting, being. Having only met the man through the immediacy of his writing and reporting, I believe that he'd want us not to grieve him because he was famous but because he was human, to respect his passing as an expression of that all too fragile humanity, and to honor his memory through acknowledgment and actions.
Anthony Bourdain was an influencer in a purer, more visceral definition of the term than what it currently means. A writer isn't a writer who doesn't live what they write, and so was Bourdain a co-creator, meaning also an elder and an owner, of the arena of lifestyle writing, reporting, being. Having only met the man through the immediacy of his writing and reporting, I believe that he'd want us not to grieve him because he was famous but because he was human, to respect his passing as an expression of that all too fragile humanity, and to honor his memory through acknowledgment and actions.
I believe that Anthony Bourdain understood all too well that discourse about suffering and tragedy are lessened when they emerge from our fascination with fame. The reality is that thousands, tens of thousands, millions of people inhabit the darkness, suffer in its depths, and that every day some, unable to emerge, are swallowed. And then they are gone. No loss is any greater or lesser than any other, but the loss of those who had no voice is among the most grievous of tragedies.
There is a lot wrong with life, especially these days. Let us all resolve to take into account the parts unknown of other peoples’ journeys. How we act and interact has an effect. Let us resolve to be part of what’s good in life, ourselves hoping that if someone needs to see hope in life, we helped with that.
And let us not dwell in platitudes but in action. Slip a few bucks to and make a phone call on behalf of a human being sitting terrified with no options at a bus stop. Quietly make it right when we see someone fucking up. Delicately move a bee struggling on the sidewalk to the safety and renewal of the jacaranda blossoms. Go to a school play because theatre kids are still picked on, now even by their own government, and it is immeasurable how much it means to them to be validated, especially in a culture where their very lives are at risk.
Be kind to someone when no one else has, when they don’t deserve it, when you have to dredge it up out of nowhere. We may or may not save a life, but we may, and these things are cumulative. They gather force as they move outwards. The greater good is done in ever-widening circles.
Be well, everyone. ❤️
There is a lot wrong with life, especially these days. Let us all resolve to take into account the parts unknown of other peoples’ journeys. How we act and interact has an effect. Let us resolve to be part of what’s good in life, ourselves hoping that if someone needs to see hope in life, we helped with that.
And let us not dwell in platitudes but in action. Slip a few bucks to and make a phone call on behalf of a human being sitting terrified with no options at a bus stop. Quietly make it right when we see someone fucking up. Delicately move a bee struggling on the sidewalk to the safety and renewal of the jacaranda blossoms. Go to a school play because theatre kids are still picked on, now even by their own government, and it is immeasurable how much it means to them to be validated, especially in a culture where their very lives are at risk.
Be kind to someone when no one else has, when they don’t deserve it, when you have to dredge it up out of nowhere. We may or may not save a life, but we may, and these things are cumulative. They gather force as they move outwards. The greater good is done in ever-widening circles.
Be well, everyone. ❤️
Resources
suicide talk line, including text option: National Suicide Prevention Lifeline
LGBTQIA youth crisis intervention: The Trevor Project
children: UNICEF
homelessness, Los Angeles: LA 211
hunger, Los Angeles: Los Angeles Food Bank
hunger, Los Angeles: Project Angel Food
aging, Los Angeles: Los Angeles Department of Aging
animal rescue, Los Angeles: No Kill Los Angeles
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