Featured J!Buzz

From Season 5

When I was about to appear on the 1989 ToC, some older friends were very excited, so I arranged for the four of them to be in the audience. One friend, Talmage Jones, could not come – he was experiencing end-stage bone cancer and just didn't feel up to it. We were all disappointed. In my interview during the finals, I mentioned that Talmage was a great fan of Jeopardy! and that he wanted to come to the taping but was just too ill. Almost immediately after the episode aired, Talmage received scores of phone calls from friends inquiring about his health and wishing him well – many from friends around the country who didn't even know he was ill and from some whom he had not had contact with for years. Talmage died just a few weeks later. After the funeral, his family told me how grateful they were that I had helped bring a little joy to his last days. Hearing that, my third-place finish didn't feel so bad.