Diabetes isn’t a death sentence, either, but people do have complications from it sometimes, occasionally serious enough to kill them.
That’s sort of how I view mental illness these days - a condition that can be chronic, can be managed, but sometimes has complications, including fatal ones.
Most people with mental illness don’t kill themselves, but some forms of mental illness do raise the risk of suicide considerably.
Nothing in a long time has shocked me this much. I’ve recently started binge watching ‘Parts Unknown’, have several more episodes on the DVR waiting for me.
‘Parts Unknown’ is quality television that is so damned rare these days, and Bourdain was the perfect host for it.
mmm
Isn’t always a death sentence. Sometimes, in fact, it is.
I will have fond memories of No Reservations in particular. Of course as a global traveler myself, I always enjoyed kicking back for an hour with a glass or two of wine and watching him passionately talk about food, history, politics, and intercultural exchange. But some of his very best episodes were in places like…the California desert, Detroit, and Buffalo, New York.
What I appreciated about Bourdain’s show - and I think why he drew in more than just your wanna-be sophisticated hipsters - was that he could make everyone understand that there’s just as much ‘culture’ in West Virginia as there is in Japan, even if we don’t see it. In an age in which there isn’t much programming with educational or cultural value on TV, Bourdain’s shows filled that void.
It’s sad to know that there will be no more episodes of Parts Unknown. And sadder to know the reason why.
I am not one (personally) for personal heroes but Bourdain comes about as close to that for me as anyone. If I could do any job in the world I’d want his job on Parts Unknown. I respected his philosophies and really enjoyed his writing. I’ll miss him.
“Life is complicated. It’s filled with nuance. It’s unsatisfying… If I believe in anything, it is doubt. The root cause of all life’s problems is looking for a simple fucking answer.” ~Anthony Bourdain
Good to know I’m not the only one who wondered about that. However, he may have left a note, or there may be some other kind of evidence that hasn’t been released to the news media yet.
I used to work with a man who found his brother hanged, probably under these circumstances - and this was in the late 1950s.
I don’t want to get off topic but I don’t want to insensitive so I will ask here. It was said that Kate Spade was found with a scarf tied to a door knob. I can’t see how it was possible to hang oneself from a doorknob. What am I missing here?
What a bummer. He truly was, to me, the most interesting man in the world, and seemed to be a true humanist.
The outpouring of love and mourning on social media reminds me of that shown after the departures of Bowie and Prince.
I was floored, R.I.P.
The only celebrity death that will upset me more than Bourdain’s will be David Attenborough’s.
Vale Anthony, may your demons be silent now.
David Attenborough’s death will definitely bum me out too but to be fair Attenborough is 92 years old so his death, while sad, will not exactly be unexpected or tragic.
Not the same at all, to me at least, as Bourdain’s suicide at 61.
I bet Anthony Bourdain would have considered something like this a tribute too, just like David Attenborough honestly did.
I didn’t say the same. I said that Attenborough’s death will be more upsetting to me.
The ship that was originally named Boaty McBoatface was later named for Attenborough.
There’s no honor (or honour) in calling a ship a boat. However, the name was later applied to a submarine. That’s all good, as far as I know, since even the Navy calls their submarines ‘boats.’
Nope, it’s possible, if only the heels are on the ground.
Wait, what? You’d have to be awful short to hang from s doorknob and your heels be off the ground.
I’ve not heard of the person Kate who topped herself, but was she under 3’ tall?? That’s the average height of doorhandles in this part of the world.
When I saw the headline upon waking up this morning, I was honestly shocked, and that’s saying something these days.
Loved his shows, although I thought his Thailand show somewhat exaggerated the eccentricities there. The Vietnam segment, however, I found to be spot on.
RIP, Anthony. 
It is perfectly possible to hang yourself while still touching the ground.
This is known in forensic circles as “incomplete hanging”, and it has been well known for a very long time. My father was a doctor and had a book on forensic science that was printed in 1910 and discussed the issue in depth.
If you search in Google for “incomplete hanging” you will get plenty of illustrations and photographs. If you have a strong stomach, I might recommend a short dissertation/power point by a forensics student who discussed the subject. I put the link in a spoiler box to comply with the two-click rule:
Also, copy-pasting from the Wikipedia article on “Hanging”:
So… Yes, killing yourself by hanging while your feet touch the ground is perfectly possible, and no, it is not automatically a sign of foul play.
I would not remotely have the willpower or the skill to continue concentrating on killing myself for as long as that would take. Ugh. Sorry.