Writer and attorney Scott Turow is the author of seven best-selling novels: Presumed Innocent, The Burden of Proof, Pleading Guilty, The Laws of Our Fathers, Personal Injuries, Reversible Errors, and Ordinary Heroes. His books have been translated into more than 25 languages and have sold more than 25 million copies worldwide.
Among the literary honors he has received are the Heartland Prize and the Robert F. Kennedy Book Award. Mr. Turow continues to work as an attorney, devoting a substantial part of his time to pro bono matters, and he has been appointed to a number of public bodies. He currently serves as a member of Illinois' Executive Ethics Commission. Mr. Turow graduated with high honors from Amherst College, went on to receive an Edith Mirrielees Fellowship to the Stanford University Creative Writing Center, and then graduated with honors from Harvard Law School. He is playing for Literacy Chicago, and for the Legal Assistance Foundation of Metropolitan Chicago.
Do you have a strategy for Celebrity Jeopardy!?
Keep your fingers crossed for me!
...
Any post game thoughts?
You know, I think that it's very hard to explain to people what is meant when everybody says this game is all about the buzzer. The more comfortable you get, the longer the delay seems to be between when the question ends and the light goes on. And it's harder and harder to restrain yourself from hitting it. So, I mean... I know it comes across to me as a viewer for all these years as a game of knowledge, but it's also a game of timing. So it was--it was just really interesting seeing it.
How does being on the stage differ from playing at home?
Well, uh, there's a little less adrenaline involved at home, so... But, you know, of course, like everybody out there, I'm a whiz at home. Uh... But, uh... it's, y'know... it's a neat experience. I'm glad that I'll be able to say I did.
Will you write this experience into a future novel?
That's a great question. Jeopardy! is already such a, y'know, an icon of popular culture. I'll have to--I'll have to figure out how to do this. Maybe a character who's thrilled by being a Jeopardy! answer or something.
What was the factor that allowed you to win today?
I really think that it was the buzzer. For some reason it clicked with me that you couldn't answer the question until the buzzer was on. 'Cause I could see both Paul and Susan. Uh, y'know they knew lots of those answers. It was--it just really is timing.
Can you tell us about your charity?
Literacy Chicago is, uh, an organization I've been involved with, uh, for, uh, I don't know, it's gotta be 15, 20 years now. And, uh... they... y'know, they do God's work. They teach adults who can't read to read. And, uh... you know, that's... Increasingly they also help people who can't read in English learn to read in English. Uh... It's one of my favorite charities, because there were two competing organizations, and they had the good sense, instead of competing, to combine forces, so, uh, I'm really happy to support them, and I've been involved in Literacy Chicago for a long time. The Legal Aid Foundation, of course, is just one of the absolute staples of, uh... of a fair and just legal system, which is making sure--which we do not do enough--that, uh, balance of power in court is not controlled by how much money you have. And the Legal Aid Foundation, which represents poor people in civil matters, uh, often in dealing with the government, uh, is... it is by its very existence an instrument of justice. |
