Alex Trebek makes Kelowna woman's day with hand-signed photo and personal note
Credit to Author: David Carrigg| Date: Wed, 18 Sep 2019 02:39:35 +0000
Alex Trebek may be battling pancreatic cancer and taking countless get-well notes from his legion of fans, but he still took the time to personally thank a young Kelowna woman for her thoughtful gift.
And it more than made her day.
“It was fantastic, I was not expecting a response,” Marah Lawrence told Postmedia News.
Marah is a true believer in Jeopardy (the American game show that Trebek has deftly hosted for 36 seasons), having rarely missed an episode in the past five years after being exposed to the show as a child.
The 23-year-old is blind, but with the help of her mom she competes at home in each game. Marah said that she and her mom have plays cards and that if there’s a picture they will pause the game so it can be described. She only recently learned what Trebek looked like.
“I’ve only just learned that he has hair,” Marah laughed. “I though he was bald. I had no clue.”
Marah Lawrence, of Kelowna, was surprised to get a hand-written thankyou note from Jeopardy host Alex Trebek.
Trebek was born in Sudbury, Ontario, and after a career at CBC moved to the U.S. where in 1984 he began hosting Jeopardy — that last season drew 9.8 million viewers per episode on average.
In March, 2019, Trebek revealed to viewers that he had been diagnosed with stage 4 pancreatic cancer and would keep working after receiving treatment. Two months later, Trebek said that he was doing well and had exceeded the expectations of his doctors.
Marah said that she was watching an episode in July when Trebek, 79, said that he had received a get-well letter from the daughter of a contestant and how much it meant to him.
“I thought I should do that for him too,” she said. “Knowing Jeopardy so well, the odd time a question will come up about a muskox, and after each question he will say, ‘yes the muskox, my favourite animal.’”
So Marah went onto E-Bay and bought a plush Wild Republic muskox.
“We got a hospital band, because he had cancer and would be going to the hospital and stuff, and my mom wrote his full name — George Alexander Trebek — and his birthday on that band and I put it on the muskox and my mom wrote up a letter. I told her what to say, and I sent it to him,” she said.
Two weeks later a letter arrived in Marah’s mailbox. Inside was a photo signed by Trebek and underneath he had written and signed off on the following.
“Dear Marah, Thank you so much for the plush musk ox, a most appreciated gift … and from a fellow Canadian. Love it. Alex Trebek.”
The hand-written note send by Jeopardy host to Kelowna woman Marah Lawrence.
Marah doesn’t have a dream to one day appear on Jeopardy.
“I only do well in the animal categories,” she joked.
But she has gone out and got the same muskox she gave to Trebek and she keeps it close.
The autographed photo and note are being stored in a firebox at home.
“I just love it,” Marah said.
Sadly, on Tuesday, Trebek revealed on Good Morning America that he had a major setback in his struggle and would be going back to hospital for another round of chemotherapy.
He said that he was not afraid of death.
“The thought of passing on doesn’t frighten me,” he said. “Other things do. The effect it will have on my loved ones, that bothers me. It makes me sad. But the thought of myself moving on? Hey, folk, it comes with the territory.”