The "Hats Off To Alex!" Story

It was an ordinary day.  7:30 PM and one of my favorite shows is about to come on CBS.  I have been watching "Jeopardy" for years as probably many of you have been doing also.  It comes on CBS directly after 'Wheel of Fortune" which is another favorite of mine.  Pat Sajak and Alex Trebek are two of the most likable TV hosts and make watching the shows enjoyable.  My wife often tells me I should take the online test for Jeopardy, but I wouldn't stand a chance against the competition that you see night after night on the show.  Being a contestant on Wheel of Fortune would be a better fit for me and a few years ago I even saw their traveling bus about a block away from my house in a big parking lot, but I chickened out.  When I opened my email today I had an email that told me about Alex Trebek's new memoir, "The Answer is...: Reflections on My Life."  The Jeopardy! host, who recently turned 79, says he wrote the book for his many fans who have been cheering him on since he announced his battle with stage 4 pancreatic cancer in March of 2019.  Alex has hosted thousands of episodes of Jeopardy! since he debuted on the trivia show in 1984.  He holds a Guiness World Record for "the most game show episodes hosted by the same presenter."  Jeopardy! isn't the first show that Alex had hosted, but some only lasted a few months while others ran a few years.  At one time he hosted Jeopardy! and "Classic Concentration" at the same time.  I've had several friends who have also had stage 4 pancreatic cancer and managed to live varying amounts of time before dying.  Alex looks well on his TV broadcasts, but perhaps he doesn't feel as well as he looks some days.  I found a list of 30 memorable things that have been part of Alex's life which follow.  Some items I knew while others I had never heard of before.  Check out the list and say a prayer for Alex to stay healthy enough to stay with us for a few more years.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.

1. Trebek was hired to host Jeopardy! by Merv Griffin in 1984 after he substituted for Chuck Woolery on Wheel of Fortune when Woolery was ill.
2. Trebek is an environmentalist, donating 74 acres of open land in the Hollywood Hills to the Santa Monica Mountains Conservancy.
3. He carried the Olympic torch in the run-up to the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta.
4. Trebek has played himself on TV shows, including The Magic School Bus, Cheers, The Golden Girls, The Simpsons and Orange Is the New Black.
5. In 2014, Trebek set the Guinness World Record for most game show episodes hosted by the same presenter (now well over 8,000), breaking the previous record held by Bob Barker.
6. He’s a tennis enthusiast who once purchased a home mainly because it had a tennis court.
7. A horse lover, Trebek once owned a 700-acre ranch in Creston, California (sold in 2008), where he raised thoroughbred racehorses.
8. His full name is George Alexander Trebek.
9. Trebek moved to the U.S. in 1973 and became a U.S. citizen in 1998.
10. The University of Ottawa, Trebek’s alma mater, named its alumni hall after him in 2015.
11. Trebek speaks five languages. The lofty linguist is fluent in English, Spanish, Italian, Russian and Swahili.
12. He’s handy around the house. “I refer to myself as Mr. Sprinkler Man because I’ve gotten good at repairing those,” Trebek says.
13. Trebek was born July 22, 1940. He is 79.
14. Trebek has been married twice. He was married to Elaine Callei from 1974 until 1981. In 1990, he married Jean Currivan.
15. Currivan and Trebek have two children, Matthew and Emily, together.
16. Trebek has suffered two heart attacks (in 2007 and 2011) but has never missed a show due to illness.
17. To lighten the mood during the tense 2005 Tournament of Champions (which included Ken Jennings), Trebek opened the show by walking out on set without his trousers.
18. Ever the philanthropist, he has toured with the USO 13 times.
19. For years, Trebek would have a Snickers and Diet Coke for breakfast.
20. In 1999, Trebek received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, near Vincent Price and Ann-Margret.
21. In addition to Jeopardy!, Trebek has hosted seven other game shows.
22. Despite fan approval of his new sporty new beard, Trebek shaved his facial hair in 2018. The reason? To please his wife. “We’ve determined that the winner is my wife, Jean. She voted for me to be clean-shaven and so, that’s it.”
23. He won his first of six Daytime Emmy Awards for Outstanding Game Show Host for Jeopardy! in 1989.
24. In 2011, Trebek was awarded the Daytime Emmy Awards’ Lifetime Achievement Award for his 27 years as the host of “Jeopardy!”
25. He reportedly brings in $10 million per Jeopardy! season, which brings his total net worth to around $75 million.
26. Trebek is under contract to host Jeopardy! until 2022.
27. In 2004, Trebek fell asleep at the wheel while driving his pickup truck on a rural road in California. His vehicle hit a string of mailboxes and flipped.
28. His favorite animal is the musk ox.
29. On November 22, 1963, Trebek was working booth duty as a staff announcer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation in Toronto. He says, “I was the one who read the UPI wire that confirmed the death of the president.”
30. As a young man, Trebek considered becoming a priest, spending a summer in a Trappist monastery.