Through Tony’s eyes: Laurie Woolever on co-writing ‘World Travel’ with late chef Anthony Bourdain

“It was difficult. What made it possible for me to carry on with the project was that he had left behind this extraordinary body of work in his books and television work. Between that and my long-standing relationship with him —I was his assistant for nearly 10 years — I had a good sense of how he spoke, his voice, tone and rhythm.” She adds, “It is very clear that that is him who is speaking or writing. It was a process of putting together a puzzle or a quilt into a cohesive new thing. Of looking back and seeing where he had been and what he had liked or not liked about a place, and working with this template that we created before he died.”

Woolever says she followed the template as closely as she could, but she also made some changes. “There were places that he did not include or that he was on the fence about. Beirut, for instance, was important to him. It was a pivotal moment in his life in 2006 to be caught in a war there. He and his crew were delayed, and they made a beautiful show about it. He went back twice. When we were planning the book, he was a little distracted and said, ‘let us come back to that’. Initially I left Beirut out but on advice from the publishing team included it.”

Layer of quirk

Wesley Allsbrook’s exquisite illustrations add a layer of quirk to World Travel. “Logistically it would have been not only very difficult and time consuming but also extremely expensive to get new photographs. Using old photographs would mean an inconsistent look and style. Tony was doing television from 2001 and cameras have changed so much in that time. The idea was to do something unexpected.”

Sketch from World Travel
 

Bourdain’s original idea, Woolever says, was to try and find someone who did a Victorian naturalist style of illustration. “While we did deviate from that a little bit, the idea was to keep it in the vein of a field guide, with illustrations that are more evocative than a flat photograph. Tony spent a lot of time as a teenager and a young adult working on illustrations and cartoons. He was modest about it but was actually quite a gifted illustrator.”

Sketch from World Travel
 

Apart from essential advice on how to get there, where to stay and what to eat, World Travel has essays by people close to Bourdain. “There is an essay from Nari Kye, a long-time producer with Tony who went with him twice to South Korea. She was born in South Korea and came to the United States when she was five years old. She told this beautiful story about how it wasn’t until Tony enabled her to make this television show with him that she understood and appreciated where she came from. Vidya Balachander’s essay on Sri Lankan cuisine was beautiful too.”

Laurie Woolever remembers Anthony Bourdain’s different avatars

• Traveller: While he set aside preconceived notions and expectations, Tony would show up to a place well prepared. He was a voracious reader and would often read a book or two, from whatever place he was visiting. He was always willing to listen, to let the people who actually live there tell their own stories and let the place and the people speak for themselves.
• Chef: Tony referred to himself as a journeyman. He was a proficient chef. He would correct people who said, ‘you were a great chef’. He would say ‘no I was not. I was a working chef who could ably run a kitchen. I was not a highly skilled, creative, technical genius. That wasn’t, my skill set.’ I think he may have been a little too modest. What he loved about cooking was the camaraderie.
• Writer: He was a natural writer. He found writing as a way to live a big life. He had a natural, clear voice and was disciplined about his writing, in a way that I find inspirational. He would work very hard in the kitchen, get a few hours of sleep and then get up, sometimes before the sun came up and write for an hour or two. Throughout all his incarnations of chef, television host and entrepreneur, he was a writer at heart. The reason he came to the attention of the world was because of his love for and facility with the written word.
• Boss: Tony was the best boss. He was hands off, by virtue of travelling, and put a lot of trust and faith in me. He was generous and supportive. It is very melancholy to talk about it because there will never be another opportunity to work with somebody like Tony.

In the fall, Woolever has a second book coming out, Bourdain, the Definitive Oral Biography. “It is the story of his life, as told through the stories of people who knew him. I did close to 100 interviews with everyone from his mother, brother, first and second wife, daughter, childhood friends, cooking school friends, kitchen, television, and publishing colleagues.”

Bourdain’s legacy, Woolever says, is his way of seeing the world. “There is so much more to the world than fine dining and hotels. He was at the forefront of a movement to show people that the entire world is interesting. It is this openness to experience and discovery that is his legacy. Tony functioned as a wonderful example of someone who had strong opinions, but also had respect for people who disagreed with him. I hope that people can hold that memory of him; as someone who would be willing to sit down and break bread with someone whose views were not the same as his.”