It’s been three years since Anthony Bourdain, the famous chef and Emmy-winning host of CNN’s “Parts Unknown” show took his life.
His longtime assistant Laurie Woolever wrote a book, based on almost 100 interviews with Bourdain’s friends and family.
It’s called “Bourdain: The Definitive Oral Biography,” and it was released this week.
An odd fact about Bourdain that kept coming up in the book that is already a bestseller is the obsession Bourdain had with being tan.
Many thought it was a way to put aside demons from his drug use, but the majority of people that the author talked to referenced Bourdain’s tanning, and how important it was to him.
Here are some quotes from the book about it.
“I remember his joking that he would be competing in the George Hamilton Tanning Olympics.”
-Christopher Bourdain
(Anthony’s brother)
“He was much darker in the last year or so of his life. I stopped watching the shows towards the end because I could not really recognize him.”
-Ottavia Busia-Bourdain
(Anthony’s second wife)
“I didn’t like the way he looked in the last couple of years. He looked like he was being ridden hard and put away wet… he seemed to not care about being tan anymore.”
-Nancy Bourdain
(Anthony’s first wife)
“He would tan, I think largely to hide the pallor of heroin. He would play hooky… and tan aggressively. He looked like a Versace bag.”
-James Graham
(A fellow chef who worked with Bourdain)
The New York Times reported that Bourdain did not have drugs in his system when he died, but he did have numerous battles with addiction in his life.
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