Was Bourdain's death really suicide?

He was still in motion, just going on with his rather fun sounding life.

Anthony Bourdain.

On June 8, 2018, Bourdain was found dead of an apparent suicide by hanging in his room at the Le Chambard hotel in Kaysersberg, France. 

Bourdain was traveling with his friend Éric Ripert, who became worried when Bourdain missed dinner and breakfast. 

Christian de Rocquigny du Fayel, the public prosecutor for Colmar, said that Bourdain's body bore no signs of violence, and that toxicology tests would determine whether drugs or medications were involved. 

Bourdain was working on an episode of Parts Unknown in nearby Strasbourg.

Bourdain's mother, Gladys Bourdain, told The New York Times: "He is absolutely the last person in the world I would have ever dreamed would do something like this."

Following the news of Bourdain's death, various celebrity chefs and other public figures expressed sentiments of condolence. 

Among them were Andrew Zimmern, Gordon Ramsay, and former astronaut Scott Kelly. 

CNN issued a statement, saying that Bourdain's "talents never ceased to amaze us and we will miss him very much."

Regarding Bourdain, former U.S. President Barack Obama, who dined with Bourdain in Vietnam on an episode of Parts Unknown, wrote on Twitter, "He taught us about food—but more importantly, about its ability to bring us together. To make us a little less afraid of the unknown."

On June 8, 2018, CNN aired Remembering Anthony Bourdain, a tribute program.

In the days following Bourdain's death fans paid tribute to him outside his now-closed former place of employment, Brasserie Les Halles.

Cooks and restaurant owners gathered together and held tribute dinners, memorials and donated net sales to the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline.

In an assessment of Bourdain's life for The Nation, David Klion theorizes that, "Bourdain understood that the point of journalism is to tell the truth, to challenge the powerful, to expose wrongdoing. But his unique gift was to make doing all that look fun rather than grim or tedious." 

According to Klion, Bourdain's shows "made it possible to believe that social justice and earthly delights weren't mutually exclusive, and he pursued both with the same earnest reverence."

Bourdain advocated for communicating the value of traditional or "peasant" foods, including all of the varietal bits and unused animal parts not usually eaten by affluent, 21st-century Americans. 

He also praised the quality of freshly prepared street food in other countries—especially developing countries—compared to fast-food chains in the U.S.

He championed industrious Spanish-speaking immigrants–from Mexico, Ecuador, and other Central and South American countries--who are cooks and chefs in many U.S. restaurants, including upscale establishments, regardless of cuisine.

He considered them talented chefs and invaluable cooks, underpaid and unrecognized even though they have become the backbone of the U.S. restaurant industry.

In 2017, Bourdain became a vocal advocate against sexual harassment in the restaurant industry, speaking out about celebrity chefs Mario Batali and John Besh and in Hollywood, particularly following his partner Asia Argento's sexual abuse allegations against Harvey Weinstein.

Bourdain accused Hollywood director Quentin Tarantino of "complicity" in the Weinstein sex scandal.