YADKIN COUNTY, N.C. — A Triad Jeopardy champion's streak came to an end Thursday.
Lawrence "Skip" Long from East Bend in Yadkin County won three games in a row this week. He lost in the fourth round, unable to recover the lead after a Daily Double question about a book by the author of the Hunger Games series.
The answer -- who is Suzanne Collins. He said he got a lot of text messages about that one.
"As you watch me on the game, you can see my brain working, but I was also tired because it was the fourth show we taped that day and I knew it was the author of the Hunger Games but I just couldn't get there in time," Long said.
He filmed all four episodes in one day at the end of November and said it's a relief to finally be able to talk about it.
"Now everybody knows, and I can finally rejoin the present," Long said. "The only thing that you want to talk about with people after you tape Jeopardy is what happened on Jeopardy, and it's the only thing that you can't talk about."
The Yadkin County native plans to use his more than $75,000 worth of winnings to help the community. He wants to donate to a textbook fund for students at Forsyth Technical Community College, where he is a nursing student.
"Helping with the textbooks is very near and dear to my heart and many others because of how impactful the cost of the textbooks can be," Long said.
He also plans to give money to groups helping evacuees from the Winston Weaver Fertilizer Plant fire.
"The immediate impact of the fire has kind of gone out of the news cycle a little bit, but we're still seeing the impact," Long said.
He also promised his niece a trip to Hawaii and will fund the trip with his winnings.