Jeopardy! host Alex Trebek announces release of autobiography amid his battle with pancreatic cancer
He's been battling stage IV pancreatic cancer since last year, but Alex Trebek doesn't seem to be slowing down at all.
The 79-year-old Jeopardy! host is set to release the autobiography The Answer Is...: Reflections On My Life this summer, his publisher Simon & Schuster announced Tuesday.
The book will hit shelves on July 21, 2020, a day before his 80th birthday.
All the answers: Alex Trebek, 79, will release his first autobiographical book The Answer Is...: Reflections On My Life in July, his publisher Simon & Schuster announced Tuesday
Though Trebek has co-written several Jeopardy!-related books, this mark his first foray into autobiographical writing.
'For over three decades, Trebek had resisted countless appeals to write a book about his life. Yet he was moved so much by all the goodwill, he felt compelled to finally share his story,' Simon & Schuster said in a statement.
Share this article
'I want people to know a little more about the person they have been cheering on for the past year,' the host writes in an excerpt shared by the publisher.
Trebek had to temporarily step away from Jeopardy! when the show went on hiatus last month amid the coronavirus pandemic.
Opening up: 'I want people to know a little more about the person they have been cheering on for the past year,' the host writes in an excerpt shared by the publisher; shown in August
Pausing: Trebek had to temporarily step away from Jeopardy! when the show went on hiatus last month amid the coronavirus pandemic; pictured in April
Jeopardy fans will have plenty to look forward to as Alex delves into common fan questions, including 'what prompted him to shave his signature mustache, his insights on legendary players like Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer, and his opinion of Will Ferrell’s Saturday Night Live impersonation.'
But it won't all be about the show, and he'll open up about more personal topics such as 'marriage, parenthood, education, success, spirituality and philanthropy.'
However, he'll pay homage to the show that made him a household name by structuring the title of each chapter in the form of a question.
According to the press release, the television icon was moved to write down his own story by the outpouring of support he received following his cancer diagnosis.
The answers: Trebek will reveal ''what prompted him to shave his signature mustache, his insights on legendary players like Ken Jennings and James Holzhauer, and his opinion of Will Ferrell’s Saturday Night Live impersonation'
Getting personal: But it won't all be about the show, and he'll open up about more personal topics such as 'marriage, parenthood, education, success, spirituality and philanthropy'; shown in 1984
Trebek has continued to host Jeopardy! as he undergoes treatment, and he's stated he'll be behind the podium 'as long as I feel my skills have not diminished too much and as long as I'm enjoying' getting to know the contestants.
In a Twitter video update from March, he seemed to be in high spirits as he revealed he'd beaten the one year survival rate for his cancer, a milestone only 18 percent of sufferers pass.
'There were moments of great pain,' he said. 'Moments when certain bodily functions no longer functioned and some massive attacks of great depression that made me wonder if it was really worth fighting on. But I brushed that aside very quickly, because that would have been a massive betrayal.'
The two-year survival rate for stage IV pancreatic cancer patients is only seven percent, but Trebek said he and his doctor were optimistic.
'You know something, if I — no — if we, because so many of us are involved in this same situation,' he said in his Twitter video. 'If we take it just one day at a time with a positive attitude, anything is possible.'
Still going: Trebek continues to host Jeopardy! as he undergoes cancer treatment. He's stated he'll be behind the podium 'as long as I feel my skills have not diminished too much and as long as I'm enjoying' getting to know the contestants; shown in August
Most watched News videos
- Taliban holds Afghan TV host hostage live at gunpoint on TV
- Geronimo dragged from Gloucestershire farm to be executed
- Extinction Rebellion members give police a 'runaround' at Tower Bridge
- Snake bites little girl posing with it at Russian petting zoo
- Inspector Morse theme music is named most favourite TV tune
- Hostages tied to vehicles in Brazil to avoid police counterattack
- Pen Farthing: No British troops helped me get into Kabul airport
- Taliban appear to fly US-made Black Hawk as person dangles
- People rally in Khost with fake coffins to celebrate Taliban victory
- Gunshots echo as 'house-to-house executions' start after US depart
- Extinction Rebellion protesters block London Bridge with bus
- Police cordon off Extinction Rebellion bus in London Bridge
