The Answer Is…: Reflections on My Life

by Alex Trebek

“Alex, you’ve had a good year. Do me a favor. Never lose your love of life.”

I have always tried to approach life with what I call the “reasonable-man attitude.” If you have some sense of perspective, you are not likely to get too high or too low.

Don’t worry about it. Just look ahead to the next question. You didn’t get here by accident. You passed the test. You deserve to be here. These categories maybe don’t line up with your areas of expertise. But you’re bright. Keep your head up. Move forward. Keep going.

Of the thousands of letters, texts, and emails I’ve received since announcing my diagnosis, 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 into it.

Yes, hard work and experience are essential. But so is timing. And luck. Don’t ever discount the importance of luck in terms of determining your opportunities and your future.

But his show, his baby, was Wheel of Fortune. He took a great deal of pleasure—and was good at it—in coming up with the word puzzles for Wheel. But he had no interest whatsoever in Jeopardy! That was Bob Murphy’s bailiwick.

One time in New York, I did that. A few minutes into the question-and-answer period, a guy at the back of the room raised his hand. “Yes, sir?” I asked. “Who are you?” he said. “I beg your pardon?” “Who are you?” he asked. All of the people around him kind of gave him a strange look. “I don’t understand,” I said. “Well,” he explained, “I was just walking by outside the hotel, and I saw this sign that said ‘Jeopardy! Testing.’ So I thought I’d come in. I have never heard of the show, and I don’t know who you are.” Then he started apologizing. “Don’t apologize,” I told him. “You don’t have to apologize. There are a lot of people out there who don’t watch television. And I don’t take it personally that they are not familiar with the show. I hope that they will look in and discover us, but it’s okay. You don’t have to say, ‘I’m sorry’ for not knowing who I am.” It was another lesson in humility, just in case I hadn’t been sufficiently humbled by my encounter all those years before with Her Majesty the Queen. I still don’t know if the guy passed the test.

We use so much material on our show. It pleases me if I can come up with something original to pass on to the writers. I don’t have such a big ego that I’m going to get my nose out of joint if they don’t accept my suggestions, but it always makes me happy when they do. It’s the same with regard to rulings from the judges. I’ll express my opinion, sometimes forcefully, about whether a ruling was correct. But if they don’t accept my opinion, I’m not going to go in the corner and sulk. I get past it immediately. We’ve got a show to do. I’ve always believed what Mark Goodson instilled in me: if it is a good idea, it doesn’t matter where it’s coming from. My prime allegiance is always trying to improve the program. If you’ve got a better idea than mine, I’m not going to let my ego get in the way and prevent the powers that be from accepting an idea because it didn’t come from a higher-level employee. In our business, you have to get your priorities right.

My motto has been, in terms of dangerous situations, until you know what the hell’s going on, don’t do anything. Bend your toes into the ground like talons and don’t move until you figure out what’s happening here. Is there a danger? Where is there safety? What should I be afraid of? And as soon as you figure it out, then, feet, do your stuff. To me, there’s no plus to running around just for the sake of running around, until you figure out what’s going on.

I really can’t say enough how grateful I am for our show’s fans. I try to show that gratitude as much as possible. To me, it is not optional. I see it as a requirement of my job. I’ve always believed that about my work in show business. If I accept a job, I will do it to the best of my ability. Even if I wake up one day and don’t feel like doing it. I believe that should be the way all people should handle themselves with regard to work. If you don’t want to do interviews, if you don’t want to sign autographs, don’t accept the job, but once you do accept it, you owe people your best performance, your best effort. So get past your ego and just be there for the people. I don’t consider it a big deal.

I just enjoy the moment I’m in. For me, life is a whole experience, not just a series of isolated moments. It’s like submerging yourself into a warm bath rather than sticking your toe under the faucet. It’s the totality of life.

Yet I still 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.

I’m going to get it done, and it will look okay. It won’t look great. But I will have accomplished it, and it’s something I’ve never done before. It’s challenging, and that’s part of what makes life so special: when challenges come up that you’ve never experienced before. That’s very important in life. It’s one thing to be able to do the same thing well over and over again. But try to force yourself into attacking a new project that you’ve never done before, and say, “Okay, how do I solve this?”

I did repair the clothes dryer when it wasn’t working. First, I called a repair guy and had him come over. “It’s gonna cost two hundred dollars,” he said. “What?” I said. I thought about just replacing the whole unit. But then I looked up what part it was, and eventually I installed it. And it worked. It’s a question of paying attention. I mean, if these technicians can do it, why the hell can’t I? That’s always been my attitude. “If this guy can repair this plumbing leak, why can’t I? If he can solder this copper pipe, why can’t I? It ain’t that complex.”

It’s a problem. Solve it. Problem-solving is an important part of anyone’s life.

“A good education and a kind heart will serve you well throughout your entire life.” The more you know, the more knowledge you acquire, the better off you are in dealing with other people—the more you develop an understanding for other people.

Somebody on staff just gave me a copy of National Geographic magazine from July of 1940, which is the month in which I was born. I’ve got it right here on my desk and have been leafing through it. One of the main articles is about the construction of the new National Gallery of Art in Washington. And the facade, the article says, is wider than the facade of the Capitol Building. So I thought, Boy, that’s interesting. That’s a pretty big building. I also learned that the dome of the National Gallery was modeled after the Pantheon in Rome. Now, am I ever going to use that knowledge? Probably not. But even if you are learning facts that you are not going to be able to use in your daily life, it enriches you—the fact itself just enriches you as a human being and broadens your outlook on life and makes you a more understanding and better person. And as Martha Stewart would say, “That’s a good thing.”

One of the elements of my personality has always been—and I’m keenly aware of this—that if something was that important to me, that much of a driving force, then I would do something about it. The fact that I have not done something about changing my job is an indication that maybe I’m pretty satisfied, pretty content with where I am. It’s not hard to be content with being the thirty-six-year host of Jeopardy! You get a lot of respect. And, as I’ve discovered since the diagnosis revelation, you get a lot of love. There really is no downside to it. It’s not like I trudge to work every week and say, “Oh gosh, I’ve gotta do Jeopardy! again.”