For those of us that were fans, I think his legacy goes far beyond Kitchen Confidential, a book that I enjoyed quite a bit. His earlier works in Cooks Tour and No Reservations could focus on his bad-boy reputation and ultra-cool persona at the expense of capturing the spirit of a culture and country. There were many times that I enjoyed his work but didn’t particularly like him as a person.
His later works showed a deep respect and voracious curiosity about the spirit of a people and a place. His Parts Unknown episode in Laos captured the true beauty and magic of the place while ripping the viewers’ hearts apart with his gripping reporting of the legacy of the U.S. bombing campaign and the treacherous perils of the unexploded bombs still remaining. His bawdy, raucous episode in Beirut brought the realities of war into our homes as he and the crew became unable to leave the country for several days because the war had started and we all witnessed the terror and grief of the Lebanese people in a way that we couldn’t have from the nightly newscast. And his sharing noodles and beer with Obama in Viet Nam was pretty epic. He was far from perfect, but did enrich our understanding of and respect for culture and the role that food plays in bringing people together.
Well read and thus versed in telling a story, accounting for the many expressions of sorrow, for telling stories well moves us forward. Ask your kids: “What did we learn today?”.
Blast from the past. I was flipping through an old food mag from 2004 for the last time before dropping it in the old paper bin. (It’s in the bin now…)
Just saw a news report that Bourdain’s net worth was a fraction of what was previously reported. Not sure if that was a contributing factor
meatn3
(equal opportunity eater in the NC Triangle)
155
I saw that too and was surprised. Maybe child support, possible alimony and splitting marital assets twice left him with much less than one would have thought.
At 61 he still would have a number of productive, well paid years available. Plus he probably could have done some lucrative endorsements if money was a big need.
Absolutely not . CNN would have given him what ever he wanted.
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meatn3
(equal opportunity eater in the NC Triangle)
157
I’m confused…I think we are saying the same thing - that he had well compensated years of work ahead of him if he wanted. That possibility would make a temporary setback seem solvable.
I was surprised by that number too. However, they said that he also had a trust, and that is never part of the estate. It’s separate, private and you never know how much is part of that. So that figure was just his cash on hand.
Interesting you just made me google it and I was surprised as well. Heidi offers a reasonable explanation, that also would make sense given some of his quotes regarding his now failed market in NY, he was on record as saying he would “kill himself” if it failed, well…
He might have been organizing his assets for such a failure, having the bulk of his estate in a trust would have potentially protected them from debt collectors.
that he often went to “country cooking” (one-dish cassoulets or boeuf bourguignon) when he entertained.
