As if 2020 couldn’t be more…well…2020, this past weekend we lost an icon in television and culture, Alex Trebek.
The ever present host of what is probably the world’s smartest game show, Jeopardy, passed away at 80 after a long battle with cancer.
I remember growing up and watching Jeopardy. I always thought those were the smartest people in the world. How could they know so much?
I heard Alex Trebek say one time that he was curious about everything, even “subjects that don’t particularly interest me.”
That’s when I started a journey through life to remain curious, to never stop learning. Reading, listening, and yes, playing along with Jeopardy are some of the ways I’ve retained that curiosity. And yes, I’ve gotten better at playing along and no, I’m not so much in awe of those ‘smart’ contestants, I realize they aren’t smarter than me, they are just curious life travelers. Like me.
Alex Trebek brought us new ideas, new things to think about, facts about things we never really cared about, like Broadway musical producers. But like Alex also said, “We are all experts in our own little niches.”
So, we mourn your passing, sir. We celebrate a life worth lived and we learned how to give sme answers in the form of a question, which is fitting for life, is it not?
Some of the answers in life are sometimes simply questions.
This week, I leave my parting comments to the great Mr. Trebek…
“My life has been a quest for knowledge and understanding, and I am nowhere near having achieved that. And it doesn't bother me in the least. I will die without having come up with the answers to many things in life.”
Chief Chuck