A lifetime of memories
Alex Trebek may never know how much he gave to so many, Melissa Hank writes.
The first thing I remember is the sweat. Lots of it, dampening the underarms of my carefully chosen “big-girl” blouse. Then there was the internal wave of heat flushing my face in anticipation. Interviewing Alex Trebek wasn't a job for the faint of heart, or the feeble of professional experience.
I was both. Still in my 20s and not two years into my first paying job in journalism, I was tasked with talking to the Jeopardy! host for a national publication. He had flown up from California to promote the show — not that it needed promoting — and I was waiting for a network publicist to usher me into the swanky Toronto hotel suite where he sat.
Finally, a nod of recognition and a gesture toward the open door. I was in.
“Hello, Mr. Trebek,” I said in my best big-girl voice, with my firmest big-girl handshake. He smiled and greeted me likewise, dressed in a pinstriped suit with underarms I'm certain were as dry as a desert. His posture was impeccable, and his mannerisms restrained. His words were slow and measured, but a crinkle at the edges of his eyes put me at ease.
I sighed with relief, flicked on my recorder and glanced at my questions.
The questions. What does one ask a man who's probably been asked everything, even then, in 2006 — with Jeopardy! 22 years on the air and him a wizened
66? I could've gone cutesy with an answer-question format, or intellectual to match the trivia nature of the game, or buddy-buddy to show that in some inconceivable way, we were both equals in this racket called reporting.
I went with a straight-ahead approach.
“Who did the best impression of you — Eugene Levy on SCTV, or Will Ferrell on Saturday Night Live?” I asked.
“Eugene Levy did the best
Alex Trebek of any of the Trebek imitators,” he said, to the pride of Canadians everywhere.
I decided to show off a bit of research: “Will you ever grow back your moustache, after shaving it in 1997?”
“I shaved it on a whim, and I may grow it again on a whim,” he answered, visibly unmoved but I'm certain nevertheless impressed.
“How do people react when they meet you on the street?”
Here, he grinned mischievously before his reply: “When people meet me, they're so surprised that I'm still alive that they respond very warmly.”
And now time for my big philosophical question, to show how deep a thinker I actually am.
“What else would you like to accomplish in life?”
A pause, then a smile.
“If I could get into my old pair of tap-dancing shoes, I would like to start taking lessons again. If I could shoot a round of golf in the 70s, that would make me feel good. If I could influence the world to be a better place, that would make me feel good,” he said. “There are so many things, and I may never get to them, and that's OK. That's what life is all about. We have dreams. We don't realize all of them, but hopefully we realize enough of them to make ourselves feel satisfied and content.”
Ten minutes later, I clicked off my recorder. I suddenly thought of my parents and grandparents, immigrants who valued education and watched Jeopardy! with me as a child. The years as a high school and university student, still tuning in but with Will Ferrell's Trebek shtick punctuating my Saturday nights. And even though I didn't know it then, I'd still be watching Jeopardy! 14 years later, with my own child vying to beat me to a reply.
I stood and thanked him, just as I do now. Alex Trebek has been a constant in my life, as I'm sure he's been for many others. Meeting him was a dream for me, and for that I will always be grateful.