Letters to the Editor: Replacing Alex Trebek will be like replacing Vin Scully. Good luck

To the editor: Whenever someone has asked me what would be my dream job, I’ve answered immediately: “Alex Trebek’s. Best gig on the planet.” (“Alex Trebek, ‘Jeopardy!’ host and trivia master, dies at 80,” Nov. 8)

I can imagine someone else hosting “Jeopardy!” but that person will need to not only earn our admiration but also capture our hearts, as Trebek did. You can’t “replace” someone who has won your heart.

Whoever the new host is, I will give them the same chance I gave Dodger announcers Joe Davis and Orel Hershiser. Wonderful as they are, they will never actually “replace” Vin Scully. I bet they’d be the first to admit that.

Meanwhile, I will be savoring every episode of “Jeopardy!” from now to Christmas.

Laura Owen, Pacific Palisades

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To the editor: Trebek was kind, sometimes stern but always celebratory of his contestants: the ordinary everyday citizens who happen to have a passion for knowing things. “Jeopardy!” contestants care about science and history, art and literature. They are intellectual but not elite.

For four years we have been assaulted by President Trump’s rejection of intellectualism as the time-wasting folly of a privileged class. Trebek’s warm appreciation of brain power made it cool to be smart. Our nightly half-hour with him has been a welcome respite.

While Trebek never let us forget his Canadian heritage, he was a true Angeleno who even went so far as to gift us with an open-space hiking trail. My family is grateful for this and will never forget the many evenings we spent with him.

Jackie Stansbury, Santa Monica