The Thursday! Newsletter 1-2: Be Like Alex.
Volume 1, Issue 2
Of all the losses 2020 has dealt the world, I will feel the loss of Alex Trebek the most. He was the greatest game show host of his day and, from all reports, an exceptional human being. He was a celebrity who didn't seem to care very much for the spotlight. What he did care about a great deal was giving the world the very best show he could every day he could. That makes him exceptional in a world of celebrity "hosts" who spend far more time hogging the spotlight than turning it on the people around them. I don't know if there's anyone like him working on network television today.
Let me tell you an Alex Trebek story you probably haven't heard. I think you'll like it. In 2006, I was a contestant on Jeopardy! back in the day when you had to send in your name and contact information and hope they drew your name to even get an invitation to the tryout. I'd been after a spot on the show since the revival in 1984 for two big reasons. First, I wanted to see if I was up to the challenge of even making it on the show. Second, I wanted to meet Alex Trebek. I'd seen him host other shows and he always seemed like a neat guy.
Well, in 2006, both things happened. I made the show on my very first tryout and I got to shake Alex Trebek's hand. Twice. I didn't win, as you can plainly see here, but I gave it a heck of a run. The person who did win, Doug Dorst, was an author and teacher who later wrote a book with J.J. Abrams. I'd hate him, but he is one of the nicest guys I've ever met, so what can I do?
But, to the story. During some of the breaks in taping, Alex will re-read a clue or two he feels he didn't do well enough the first time around. Sometimes the pacing just isn't right or, in this particular case, he isn't sure he's gotten the correct pronunciation of a name. I don't remember which name caught his attention, but he wanted to get it right, so he turned to his research team, who sat just off-camera, to get him the right answer. The head of the team said something to the effect that there were two pronunciations of the name and either one would do well enough. That was clearly the wrong answer. Alex got very sharp with them, told them they would have the correct pronunciation to him by the next break, and tossed in some heavy implication that they had gotten lazy and lax.
I remember looking at one of the other contestants a bit wide-eyed. The contestant coordinator with us looked a bit off-balance, too. Clearly, what we had witness was way out of the ordinary. Alex Trebek didn't yell, but he had come very close. Alex Trebek didn't call people out but indeed he had done that very thing to his whole research crew in front of the rest of the crew and a packed audience.
At the next break, though, I got to see something exceptional. Alex quieted the studio like he was going to re-read another clue, but he gave the research team a public apology instead. He told them he was wrong to speak to them the way he had. His tone was wrong. The implication they were getting lazy was wrong. None of this "If you were offended by what I said, I'm sorry". Nope. He was wrong. Full stop.
What really amazed me, though, was his one bit of explanation. He told them he hoped that if, one day, someone read his name in front of millions and millions of viewers, they'd do everything they could to get it right. He felt the show owed it to everyone who watched but also to the people who they immortalized in clues, to be as correct as possible. But that still didn't excuse treating the research team poorly.
Alex Trebek was a perfectionist but he was also a decent man, and I think there's something there for us if we want it. We live in world full of advice of "be authentic" and "I am who I am". Too often folks take that as license to be abusive and horrible to everyone around them, so long as they're "real". "Only God can judge me," they say as they treat the world around them like trash.
That is the hottest of garbage and I have to tell you that I'm pretty tired of it. It is possible to do amazing, authentic, detailed and precise work without being a terrible person. It is possible to be the best without being the biggest jerk. Alex Trebek did it. So can we. Let's be like Alex.
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Here are the Arts and/or Letters I Promised.
And truly, I reiterate, nothing’s small!
No lily-muffled hum of a summer-bee,
But finds some coupling with the spinning stars;
No pebble at your foot, but proves a sphere;
No chaffinch, but implies the cherubim;
And (glancing on my own thin, veinèd wrist),
In such a little tremor of the blood
The whole strong clamour of a vehement soul
Doth utter itself distinct. Earth’s crammed with heaven,
And every common bush afire with God;
But only he who sees, takes off his shoes,
The rest sit round it and pluck blackberries,
And daub their natural faces unaware
More and more from the first similitude.
Elizabeth Barrett Browning from "Aurora Leigh"
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Here are Links either Useful or Fun.
You know what makes a day better? Fluffy, delicious scrambled eggs! Want some? Make some!
If you're feeling stuck and unable to get yourself moving forward on something in your life, this guide on "being in action" from Leo Babauta may just be the help you need. I like Leo's stuff a lot. He's handy.
I don't know how much art you need in your life but, like most folks are a bit short on Vitamin D, I suspect most folks are short on amazing art. I include myself here. Here's a brand new site stuffed full of Van Gogh art that should keep you busy and full of beauty for a while!
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One Last Thing.
Thursday! is a work in progess. I didn't have a firm plan for how I wanted to go along when I started, so you can expect things to change little by little as I find better ways to give you the fun and useful newsletter I really want to give you. I'm being like Alex, right? Striving for perfect while being not completely a jerk? Stick with me. Things will change but the ride should be pretty cool.
If you have anything you'd like to share, you can always reply to the newsletter. I get all the replies and promise to read every one of them. I can't promise I'll answer back, because I'm quite forgetful, but I'll read everything you send.