Former Register reporter wins big
Now the Sandusky newspaper has two 'Jeopardy!' champions
Former Sandusky Register reporter Jason Singer won big on “Jeopardy” on Tuesday and will be the returning champion on the iconic TV game show that airs today (Wednesday, July 2).
Watch Singer interview with local TV news
Singer, who when he was in Sandusky, was the reporter who wrote “Ask Jason,” a popular weekly column in which he answered questions from readers about city issues and other pressing matters. He covered the city beat.
In Sandusky
Singer married Susan McMillan, another former Register reporter who covered the education beat. They both worked at the Register for about three years.
After Singer was hired in early 2007, he wanted to switch out his beat before his first day on the job. He called and told the hiring editor he knew a recent journalism school graduate — McMillan — who he said had applied for the same job he had just been hired for and she was the most amazing reporter, pretty much, ever, in the history of the world.
McMillan, by that time, was already a finalist for the open education beat at the Register, although she had not yet been contacted about the job. Singer was hired first but just weeks later McMillan accepted the job as education reporter. In that instance, she followed him. But, when it comes to “Jeopardy!” he followed her. Susan McMillan won $36,500 when she was a contestant on the show in 2021.
Making history
Singer and McMillan both left the Register in about 2010. Singer later worked as a reporter and an editor at the Portland Press in Portland, Maine, and McMillan worked as a reporter at Kennebec Journal and later became an Arabic translator with the U.S. military. Singer is now a real estate agent.
Here’s how TV Insider magazine described his victory:
“Singer was in the lead with $3,400 when he found the first Daily Double. He made it a true Daily Double in ‘Homophones.’ The clue read, ‘Illegal & to provoke a response.’ Singer answered, ‘What is illicit/elicit?’ but was too late, and it didn’t count,” the magazine reported. “He dropped down to $0.”
He was lifted up by an answer about journalism.
“Singer had the lead of $11,200 when he found the last ‘Double Jeopardy. In ‘Tough TV,’ he wagered $3,000. … The clue read, ‘JFK famously dubbed this show that’s still around today ‘the fifty-first state.’ In the nick of time, Singer answered correctly with, ‘What is Meet the Press?’ giving him $14,200.
“By the end of the round, Singer led with $17,800.”
The “Final Jeopardy” question: “In 1991 he became the first actor in over 85 years to be interred in Poets’ Corner and rests near Shakespeare’s memorial.”
Singer correctly answered, “Who is Laurence Olivier.”
He had bet $4,601 and finished as champion with $22,401.
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Editor’s note: A previous version of this story stated that Singer and McMillan became the first already married couple to both become Jeopardy champions. That statement is not correct, according to thejeopardyfan.com, a website dedicated to the show.