I am old enough that I watch Jeopardy every night when I am at home at 7:30. If we are not at home at that time, no worry. We record each episode so we can watch it later. Alex Trebeck has been the host of this Answer/Question game show since 1984.
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In 1990 Trebeck married his current wife, Jean, who is from Long Island, New York. A native of Canada, he became a naturalized United States citizen in 1998.
I recently read The Answer Is… Reflections On My Life in which this much beloved game show host shared stories from his life and career. He acknowledged that “there are a lot of people in America who were not born here and some of them have major accomplishments… (and) have made major contributions to the culture of America.” He suggests that all of them have two things in common. First of all, at least most of all of them wanted to be here and secondly they “have all come to deeply love this country.”
In the book Trebeck offers his “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 that was born with serious birth defects. This is a major ordeal for you, one that cannot 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.”
“It’s that same hand reaching across two vast oceans, across international boundaries, and saying to foreign leaders, ‘We understand that you govern your country very differently than we do here in the United States. You are not a democratic republic. Some of you repress your citizens. Some of you worship a superior being in ways that have become xenophobic and dangerous, but as long as you don’t cross the line and threaten us, America will not raise a hand against you. In fact, we want to join hands with you to help solve some of the problems that are endangering people all around the planet’.”
He goes on to ask, “Is the image of America that is projected abroad one that we feel comfortable with, or is there a way we can become better neighbors?” Then he suggests that “all of us need to look at our country and figure out whether America lives up to the ideal America that we have in our minds and hearts. If it doesn’t, if there is room for improvement- and there always is- let us act.”
Well said, Alex.
Jamie Jenkins
Alex Trebeck’s comments are on pages 141-142 of The Answer Is…Reflections on My Life, Alex Trebeck (Simon & Schuster, 2020)
thoughts for thursday 