"He was who he was, and it was out there for everyone to see."
Anthony Bourdain's mother has spoken out following the celebrity chef's death on Friday.
In a phone interview with NBC News, Gladys Bourdain, who last heard from her son in an email on Mother's Day, said that there was never any sign that something was wrong.
"Not a one, ever," she said.
Gladys revealed that her younger son, Christopher, broke the news of Anthony's death to her.
"[He was] feisty and very talented," she said of Anthony. "He didn't disguise anything ... he was who he was, and it was out there for everyone to see."
Gladys, a former editor at The New York Times, shared that she'll remember her son as "a lover of people of all kinds" before reminiscing about his childhood.
"He always had talent, and he always had an incredible vocabulary,'' she said. "In second grade [his teacher] suggested that we put him into a private school because he was sitting in a corner reading books while all the other kids were learning how to read."
The TV personality's mother also shared that she recommended Anthony go to culinary school following a summer he spent working in a kitchen.
"The thing is he came back from his first summer in Provincetown as a dishwasher, and then one of the cooks burned himself or cut himself so badly he had to stop work and Tony, who had been just observing, filled in,'' she said. "And when he came back at the end of that summer, we talked about it and since he had so little interest in his college career. I suggested the Culinary Institute and that’s how it all started."
Bourdain was found dead of apparent suicide in a French hotel room on June 8 by his friend and fellow chef, Eric Ripert. He was 61 at the time of his death. This came just days after famed fashion designer Kate Spade took her own life at age 55.
If you or someone you know needs help, please call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1-800-273-TALK (8255).
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