This morning, with great shock and sadness, we learned of Anthony Bourdain's death by suicide at the age of 61.
His CNN TV show "Parts Unknown" offered something special you'd never expect from a travel/cooking show - a profound exploration of regions and cultures, that made you part of his adventure and taught you something new with every episode. Bourdain managed one of the hardest tricks in filmmaking - he was entertaining and informative at the same time. And I use the word filmmaking intentionally, because his show was filmmaking. Bourdain assembled a terrific and talented crew. It featured top notch production values, with excellent cinematography, a flair for camera angles and compositions, editing that was magical, and a powerful use of music. The topping on the cake was the voice-over narration, written by Bourdain himself, which was often moving, insightful and poetic.
In every sense of the word, Anthony Bourdain was a true artist. Those of us who enjoyed his travels and took the journey with him to "Parts Unknown" are poorer for his loss.
