‘Jeopardy!’ host Alex Trebek opens up about cancer, ‘last days’ in new memoir

Answer: America’s most beloved game-show host wrote this new book.

And the question is: What is Alex Trebek’s new memoir “The Answer Is ... Reflections on My Life” (Simon & Schuster, $26)?

For anyone who enjoys watching “Jeopardy!” — or has ever wondered about the sincere, mustachioed man at its helm — “The Answer Is ...” is an illuminating look at the life and philosophy of Trebek, who celebrated his 80th birthday Wednesday. The memoir traces the iconic game-show host’s beginnings in Ontario, Canada, in a lower-middle-class family, where he started his career as a radio announcer for the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Twelve years later, he moved to Los Angeles to host the short-lived NBC game shows “The Wizard of Odds” and “High Rollers.”

Simon and Schuster

After a lucky break filling in for Chuck Woolery on “Wheel of Fortune,” Trebek was asked to host “Jeopardy!” in syndication in 1984 and has quizzed eager contestants for the past 36 years, until production was suspended in March due to the coronavirus.

Trebek’s book includes some heartwarming “Jeopardy!” anecdotes. For instance, he cried when contestant Ken Jennings’ 74-day winning streak ended in 2004.

The toll that pancreatic cancer has taken on him also features heavily. He revealed in March 2019 that he had been diagnosed with Stage 4 pancreatic cancer. Since then, he’s been open about the pain and depression he’s felt while undergoing treatment and his desire to stop treatment if his latest round of chemotherapy fails.

Some highlights of what Trebek writes:

Started wearing a wig before cancer

Trebek has been losing his hair due to chemo treatments, but he actually started wearing a hairpiece in early 2018, about a year before announcing his cancer diagnosis. After banging his head and experiencing episodes in which he’d lose his balance, Trebek learned that he had blood clots on both sides of his brain, which he had to get surgically removed. The resulting scars were so noticeable that a ”Jeopardy!” producer suggested a wig.

“These pieces are so good,” Trebek writes. “Nobody can tell.”

‘Ready to pack it in’ sometimes

Trebek writes frankly about cancer’s emotional toll, writing: “A lot of people are looking to me for reassurance,” and yet “I’m [an expletive] wuss. I start to cry for no reason at all.”

He also explains why he doesn’t like to use the terms “fighting” or “battling” with regard to the disease: “It is simple biology. You get treatment and you get better. Or you don’t. And neither outcome is an indication of your strength as a person.”

While he tries to be optimistic, there are moments when “I’m ready to pack it in,” Trebek says. “Because I understand that death is part of life. And I’ve lived a long life.”

Trebek goes into great detail about the pain that makes it difficult to tape “Jeopardy!” While he intends to host the show as long as he is physically and mentally able, “I know there will come a time when I can no longer do my job as host,” he writes.

But he says “Jeopardy!” will go on without him: “You could replace me as the host of the show with anybody and it would likely be just as popular. Hell, after 36 years with me, it might even be more popular.”

How he hopes to spend final days

Trebek reveals that he has spoken to his doctor about hospice care and has begun organizing his finances for his wife of 30 years, Jean Currivan, and their two kids, Matthew, 30, and Emily, 27.

“When death happens, it happens. Why should I be afraid of it?” Trebek writes. “Now, if it involves physical suffering, I might be afraid of that. But according to my doctor, that’s what hospice is for. They want to make it as easy as it can possibly be for you to transition into whatever future you happen to believe in.” (Trebek says he does not believe in a specific god nor “a particular version of the afterlife.”)

He goes on to say that he hopes to be remembered as a “good and loving husband and father, and also as a decent man who did his best to help people perform at their best.” Because of the COVID-19 lockdown, any bucket-list plans of traveling, or even family outings, are on hold.

“Here I am wanting to enjoy what might be the last of my days, and, what, I’m supposed to just stay at home and sit in a chair and stare into space? Actually, that doesn’t sound too bad,” Trebek says.