Clue: A former journalist who became the beloved host of America's favorite game show and quiz competition. Answer: Who Was Alex Trebek?, the latest title in the #1 New York Times Best-Selling series.
Born in Ontario, Canada, in 1940, Alex Trebek grew up listening to the radio and hoping to one day become a broadcaster. His dream became a reality when he was hired as a reporter for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in 1961. Alex's composed nature and ability to skillfully improvise while on television eventually led to his role as the host of “Jeopardy!,” the biggest quiz game show in the United States.
Alex not only earned numerous awards over the course of his thirty-six-year-long hosting career, but he also earned the admiration of the contestants on the show and dedicated viewers watching at home.
It was nearly seven o'clock in the evening on January 8, 2021. All over the East Coast of the United States, people turned on their televisions. It was time for “Jeopardy!”, a game show that tests the players' knowledge in all sorts of areas from geography to history to pop culture to words that begin and end in a vowel.
Many “Jeopardy!” fans didn't just watch the contestants on the show; they also played along at home. Sometimes they played against each other. If they were watching alone, they just shouted out the answers to themselves.
Tonight's episode was very special. For thirty-seven years, the show had been hosted by Alex Trebek. This episode was his last. Alex had taped this final show months earlier, on October 29, 2020. He was very sick with cancer and could no longer work. Just a week after that, on November 8, 2020, Alex died. So, his fans were watching his last episode, knowing that they would never see him again.
The show's familiar theme music started. A spinning globe filled the screen. Then Johnny Gilbert, the show's announcer, declared, "This is Jeopardy! "
Johnny introduced the day's contestants. One was an assistant professor of English education from New York named Jim Gilligan. The next was a software engineering manager from Illinois named Cliff Chang. The third contestant was the returning champion. She had won the previous two days' games. She was an executive assistant from California. Her name was Yoshie Hill. In the two days she had been on the show she had won $31,600.
When he finished introducing the contestants, Johnny said, "And now, here is the host of Jeopardy!, Alex Trebek!"
On this evening, the applause was even longer than usual. At the start of the episode, Alex asked everyone watching at home to be generous with each other. "We're trying to build a gentler, kinder society," he said. "If we all pitch in just a little bit, we're going to get there." Over the years, the audience had grown to love how Alex was always kind to contestants, making them feel good even when they lost the game. Everyone sitting in the audience and watching at home was going to miss seeing Alex on TV every evening. He was more than a television host; he had become part of their lives.
