SAN DIEGO – In just one week, two major food and fashion icons took their own lives.
Days after fashion designer Kate Spade was found dead in her New York home, Anthony Bourdain died in his apartment in France. Bourdain was shooting an episode of his show on CNN “Parts Unknown.”
San Diego celebrity chef Sam Zien, known as Sam the Cooking Guy, explained how Bourdain impacted the world.
“People are so moved by what Anthony taught them. How to enjoy life – grab it, live it,” said Zien, adding that he remembered Bourdain telling young people to travel as much as they could. “You’ll learn what the world’s about, people’s food – but at the heart of it, you learn about people.”
“I loved to read his books. Anybody who only knows him from TV will really get a sense of him by reading his books,” Zien said.
Bourdain had acknowledged in the past that anyone would’ve quit their job to do what he did for his career and would do it for free.
“I don’t know how many of my friends said to me, if I could have any job in the world it would be [Anthony’s job]. Who doesn’t want to travel to the best parts of the world, eat great food and meet interesting people?” Zien said. “Anthony Bourdain appeared to have everything going on.”
Bourdain had been open to discussing his past drug abuse issues and appeared to had overcome it.
“His family never saw it coming. Certainly, Kate Spade’s family didn’t see it coming. My brother committed suicide six years ago and I can tell you we never saw it coming. He was troubled, but we never had an idea that this was going to happen,” Zien said.
“He made a choice yesterday to end it verse staying and being here for those who loved him. It is just so sad I can’t believe it,” Zien said. “You can only point people toward help and hope that those that are out there in need will pick up the phone and call someone.”
