Gutenberg: The Avuncular Alex Trebek

During the pandemic, my wife and I have found ourselves catching up on a lot of Jeopardy! reruns. In that time, we have seen some exciting moments, such as James Holzhauer’s stunning $2.4 million, 32-game winning streak or the currently re-airing Million Dollar Masters. But my favorite part hasn’t been any of the contestants; it’s been the host Alex Trebek.

Now this is odd! Because when I try to think of “favorite” Trebek moments, they’re hard to come by. Oh, I love listening to him pronounce French words (especially the word genre), or gently let an incorrect contestant down with a very polite, very Canadian[1] “Sooo-rry,” or try to raise football awareness. But for the most part, when I think of Alex Trebek, he is just there weekday after weekday, reminding me how I can’t tell my Hamlet from my Othello. In his newly released autobiography, The Answer Is…Reflections on My Life (Simon & Schuster, $26), Trebek himself puts it this way:

“But I think the biggest reason the show has endured is the comfort that it brings. Viewers have gotten used to having me there, not so much as a showbiz personality but as an uncle. I’m part of the family more than an outside celebrity who comes into your home to entertain you. They find me comforting and reassuring as opposed to being impressed by me. It’s not that kind of thing. I’m a second-tier celebrity. The comfortability aspect, I think, is very important. I really think that (Trebek, 221).”

This kinship that many of us feel to a man we’ve never met is strange. How can I really claim to know him? Trebek writes that he has never gotten to know even any of the contestants other than all-time-champion Ken Jennings (196). And yet, while it’s strange, the feeling is real for many of us who are diehards.

So after reading the book and binge-watching, here are a few things I as a fan have come to love about Alex Trebek:

1. He makes an effort to pronounce things right. Perhaps it’s because he’s the son of a Ukrainian-Canadian immigrant and a Franco-Canadian, but Trebek makes a genuine effort to pronounce words or names from different languages accurately. His pronunciation of a German or Hindi word may not be up to his standard for genre, but he at least gives it a go. This may seem a small thing, but to me, it signals respect. Getting someone’s name right means, “You matter.”
2. He encourages the contestants. In contrast to more in-your-face game-shows, Trebek responds gracefully when someone gives a wrong answer. He writes that encouragement is not something he does “simply to be kind. I’m doing it because the more competitive contestants are, the better it is for the game. I want to keep everyone in contention. I want them to realize that it was a momentary lapse, and we all have those (73).” In Trebek’s world, we are all one clue away from getting back in the game. I find that hopeful.
3. Courage. Trebek writes, “Of the thousands of letters, texts, and emails I’ve received since announcing my diagnosis [of advanced pancreatic cancer], many of them have mentioned my courage. But that’s not the way I look at courage. Courage is a conscious decision. You do it in a dangerous situation, when you have a choice. Here, there’s no choice. I’ve been diagnosed with a disease that is probably going to kill me. And probably sooner than later. So courage does not enter it (81).” I love his trademark humility, but I would counter that we all make conscious decisions about how we respond to adversity. Watching Alex Trebek the last year continue to do his job with dignity, grace, and empathy, never making the show about himself, when he must be in excruciating pain has been nothing short of inspirational. He writes, “[I] believe in the will to live. I believe in positivity. I believe in optimism. I believe in hope, and I certainly believe in the power of prayer (263).” Trebek models these values a half-hour every day for all of us in a time when more than ever we need positivity, optimism, hope, and prayer. 
4. Finally, patriotism. Trebek writes of his own immigrant experience in his chapter “What is…America?”: “First of all, most of us [immigrants] wanted to be here. We made a conscious decision to come to America because of the opportunities that were available here that were perhaps not available to us in our birth countries. And second, we have all come to deeply love this country….

“Here’s my idea of the true spirit of Americanism: it’s an outstretched hand and a gentle voice that says, ‘Through no fault of your own, you had a child who was born with serious birth defects. This is a major ordeal for you, one that can’t be borne alone. Let us help you. Through no fault of your own, your job disappeared. It vanished. You can no longer support your family the way you did before. Oh, I know you got a replacement job, but it doesn’t pay you anywhere near the salary you were earning prior to that event. You’re in danger of losing your home. You can’t afford health insurance. You certainly can’t afford to send your kids to college. For that, they’re going to have to take out big loans that they won’t be able to repay for fifteen or twenty years after graduation. Let us help you (141).”   

The conceit of Jeopardy! has always been that Alex Trebek gives us the “answers,” and the contestants and audience play along to provide the “questions.” There are a lot of answers in this book and in Trebek’s 36-year-long example of how we could all live more generously, compassionately, and hopefully. Are we going to tune in to what he has to say?  

James E. Smith is a pastor serving at Trinity Episcopal and St. John’s Lutheran Churches. For comments, questions, or rebuttals, fire off an e-mail at jesmith7770@gmail.com. Prosit!

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[1] But of course I’m being redundant.