Reading Time: 4 minutes I don’t want Bourdain’s legacy to be mainly about the manner of his death, because his life was so significant. He taught us is not to gloss over our differences, but to celebrate them. To respect them. To explore them with authenticity and openhearted curiosity. His shows were, in his words, “stand-alone essays” in which food was an important factor, but not the only, or even the main, component. In an interview with Anderson Cooper, he said, “If you don’t accept the food, you’re rejecting the people,” adding that when you show appreciation for local cuisine, “people open up.”