Jeopardy! Hall of Fame grows

I read with interest the July Bulletin article about Arthur Chu ’06, and am writing to let you know that I am another of Swarthmore’s Jeopardy! winners. I won $15,200 in a show that originally aired May 31, 1993, and lost in the next show because of timid betting in the final round. In the years since then, it has seemed that nothing I’ve done in my professional life as a musician impresses people as much as the fact that I was on Jeopardy!

—Ira Gitlin ’80

Alexandria, Va.

I very much enjoyed the article about Arthur Chu ’06. In accordance with the request in the July magazine, I am glad to point out that I appeared on Jeopardy! in April 2011. I won four shows and lost, tragically, on the fifth. I actually was the alternate for that year’s Tournament of Champions, meaning I was the highest-scoring contestant of the year who did not make it into the tournament. I try not to be bitter about it, although I can’t help feeling that it was like just missing a medal in the Olympics; I would rather place fifth than fourth!

—Sara Heard ’88

Brooklyn, N.Y.

Editor’s note: Our shout-out for additions to our own Jeopardy! Hall of Fame yielded seven new responses. Including our adjacent two letter
writers, they are:

1964 Terry Armstrong Thompson ’57 (Tournament of Champions winner during the show’s first year)

1993 Carl Courant ’73
(two-time champ)

1993 Ira Gitlin ’80

1997 Patrick Friel ’96
(two-time champ)

1997 John Hammond ’82

2011 Sara Heard ’88

2012 John Erler ’89