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Jeopardy contestants, host honor Belinder teacher Larry Martin, raise awareness of pancreatic cancer

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Larry Martin and Alex Trebek at last year’s Jeopardy Teachers Tournament.

Legendary Belinder Elementary teacher Larry Martin was remembered at the national level last week as the game show Jeopardy kicked off a special tournament for which he would have qualified.

Martin wowed the Jeopardy world last year when he won the game show’s annual Teachers Tournament. The win qualified him to participate in the Tournament of Champions, which kicked off this week.

However, shortly after his Jeopardy win, Martin was forced to step back from the classroom after a pancreatic cancer diagnosis. He died in January and was remembered at a celebration of life ceremony this spring at the school where he taught for 27 years.

Last Tuesday, Jeopardy host Alex Trebek opened the Tournament of Champions episode with a remembrance of Martin, and noted that contestants were wearing purple ribbons to raise awareness of pancreatic cancer:

Trebek himself was diagnosed with stage IV pancreatic cancer in March of this year. He recently filmed a public service announcement on the disease, which will air during the Jeopardy broadcast Nov. 21, which is World Pancreatic Cancer Day.

About the author

Jay Senter
Jay Senter

Jay Senter is the founder and publisher of the Post.

He earned his bachelor’s degree in business at the University of Wisconsin – Madison, where he worked as a reporter and editor at The Badger Herald.

He went on to receive a master’s degree in journalism from the University of Kansas, where he earned the Calder Pickett Award. While he was in graduate school, he also worked as a reporter for the Lawrence Journal-World.

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