Today we learned that Anthony Bourdain committed suicide last night. Hearing this news will shock some people. He seemed to have everything, 
but his tragic death reminds us that we never know another person’s true state of mind.
I always enjoyed Mr. Bourdain’s programs. He struck me as a wonderful human being. I thought we could have been good friends.
Anthony Bourdain was also a vocal advocate for the Palestinian people. In 2014 the Muslim Public Affairs Council awarded Anthony their “Voices of Courage and Conscience in Media Award” for one of his programs dedicated to Palestinian refugees. During his acceptance speech he said:
“I was enormously grateful for the response from Palestinians in particular for doing what seemed to me an ordinary thing, something we do all the time: show regular people doing everyday things, cooking and enjoying meals, playing with their children, talking about their lives, their hopes and dreams.
“It is a measure I guess of how twisted and shallow our depiction of a people is that these images come as a shock to so many. The world has visited many terrible things on the Palestinian people, none more shameful than robbing them of their basic humanity.
“People are not statistics. That is all we attempted to show. A small, pathetically small step towards understanding.”
May you rest in peace, Mr. Bourdain. I wish I had known you.
