How fatherhood influenced Anthony Bourdain, who's survived by 11-year-old daughter

But perhaps no one knew him better than his beloved 11-year-old daughter, Ariane Bourdain.

(MORE: Anthony Bourdain dies at 61 in apparent suicide)

Bourdain, who died at age 61, welcomed his only child 11 years ago with Ottavia Busia, whom he divorced in 2016, and he never shied away from expressing the girl’s influence on him.

He talked about trying to protect her from the spotlight while doing his best to raise a confident daughter with the tools to do anything she wanted in this world.

Everything he did for Ariane appeared to come back tenfold in the form of the happiness and joy he often expressed about their relationship.

In a 2013 essay for the Guardian, Bourdain wrote about an old picture he held as a reminder of their close bond.

"All I can realistically hope for is that she feels loved"

"There's a picture of me and my daughter, aged four, in the Cayman Islands," he wrote. "She's sitting on my lap, eyes closed. I'm holding her tight, my face sunburned and blissed-out with the joys of fatherhood. I was 50 when I became a father of a little girl. I was finally old enough to be qualified for the job. Ariane has me wrapped around her finger. All I can realistically hope for is that she feels loved. That she has high self-esteem. And good martial-arts skills."

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