Vivian Pemberton reviewed game show host Alex Trebek’s memoir The Answer Is…Reflections on My Life for Delphi Study Club members at their February meeting.The son of a Ukrainian immigrant chef, Trebek was born in Canada, and, according to Pemberton, his early life was not an indication of his award-winning career as host of Jeopardy! for 36 seasons.Trebek helped his father in his hotel kitchen in Sudbury, learned construction by observing his maternal uncles, suffered for 12 years from rheumatism in his knees after falling into a river, was expelled from the University of Ottawa Prep School and left his military academy because he didn’t want a military haircut.He majored in philosophy at the University of Ottawa and took a temporary position with the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation, which evolved into a permanent position covering news, weather and stockyard reports. Bilingual in French and in English, he was recruited to host high school quiz shows. He moved to Los Angeles, where he hosted seven different game shows in 10 years.Invited to host Jeopardy!, he offered to produce the show as well as host it. In the early years he answered all mail, took public relation trips around the country with Pat Sajak and Vanna White, and made contestant searches. He taped the show in two days each week, leaving him time to spend with his family.In 1984 he became involved with the humanitarian organization World Vision and made more than 30 trips to Africa. He also supported the USO, making about 12 trips and setting up Jeopardy! games for the troops.Trebek was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in 2019 and continued to host 18 more episodes of Jeopardy! before leaving the show. He died in 2020, aged 80. “He believed in the will to live and in being positive,” Pemberton told the group.Preceding the business meeting,
