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Charlie Trotter Died of a Stroke, Medical Examiner's Office Says

By Emily Morris | November 25, 2013 11:50am
 Charlie Trotter died on Nov. 5 at age 54.
Charlie Trotter died on Nov. 5 at age 54.
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Facebook/Charlie Trotter

CHICAGO — The death of renowned chef Charlie Trotter earlier this month was due to a stroke, the Cook County Medical Examiner's Office said in a statement released Monday.

Trotter was found inside his Lincoln Park home the morning of Nov. 5 and pronounced dead at Northwestern Memorial Hospital, authorities said at the time. He was 54.

He died of a stroke as a result of high blood pressure, Cook County Medical Examiner Stephen Cina said Monday. Neither drugs nor alcohol played a part in Trotter's death, Cina said.

"Additionally, there is no scientific evidence to indicate that recent travel contributed to his death, though there was evidence of a prior stroke,” Cina said.

As the news of his death reverberated across Chicago and the culinary world, many expressed shock and sadness at the loss of a culinary icon.

"Charlie Trotter was one of a kind. Most famous chefs are journeymen who come to a city from somewhere else, to make their name and make their mark," Mayor Rahm Emanuel said during a memorial service that was attended by hundreds. "Not Charlie. He was born here. He made his mark here. And he is remembered here, fondly."