PARIS (AP) Anthony Bourdain, the celebrity chef and citizen of the world who inspired millions to share his delight in food and the bonds it created, was found dead in his hotel room Friday in France while working on his CNN series on culinary traditions. He was 61.
CNN confirmed the death, saying that Bourdain was found unresponsive Friday morning by friend and chef Eric Ripert, and the company called the death a suicide.
A prosecutor in eastern France said Bourdain apparently hanged himself in a luxury hotel in the ancient village of Kaysersberg on the Alsatian wine route. French media quoted Colmar prosecutor Christian de Rocquigny du Fayel as saying that at this stage nothing suggests that another person was involved. However, investigators were verifying the circumstances of Bourdains death.
Widely loved and rarely afraid to speak his mind, he mixed a coarseness and whimsical sense of adventurousness, true to the rock n roll music he loved. Bourdains Parts Unknown seemed like an odd choice for CNN when it started in 2013 part travelogue, part history lesson, part love letter to exotic foods. Each trip was an adventure.
There had been nothing quite like it on the staid news network, and it became an immediate hit.
Within hours of his death, Kitchen Confidential was in the top 20 on Amazon.com.
We are constantly asking ourselves, first and foremost, what is the most (messed) up thing we can do next week? he said in a 2014 interview with the AP.
Bourdains breakthrough as an author came with the 2000 publication of his Kitchen Confidential: Adventures in the Culinary Underbelly. The book created a sensation by combining frank details of his life and career with behind-the-scenes observations on the culinary industry.
Colleagues, friends and admirers shared their grief Friday. CNN chief executive Jeff Zucker sent a company letter calling Bourdain an exceptional talent. A storyteller. A gifted writer. A world traveler. An adventurer.
