Emily Burnham, Bangor Writer, Heads To Jeopardy

Many in Maine might recognize the name Emily Burnham from her past work writing for the Bangor Daily News.

Burnham, a Maine native, grew up in the Searsport area, graduated from the University of Maine, and has for the past two decades, called Bangor her home.

She has a vast knowledge of some of the coolest and quirkiest parts of the Pine Tree State and the Queen City, and next week, she'll be representing both her hometown and state on one of the biggest television quiz shows in the world!

She broke the news to her friends, family and followers on Facebook this week.

"I have been sitting on a big surprise for the past two months, and now I finally get to tell people: next week I’ll be appearing on Jeopardy! I got to hold the buzzer. I got to see the big screen. I got to meet Ken Jennings (or, as he’s known in our house, Jen Kennings). I got to be in the house Trebek built. It was, as you might expect, awesome."

Burnham, who grew up watching Jeopardy! as a kid, reads encyclopedias for fun and actually hosted local trivia nights at Paddy Murphy's back in the day, says all of those things helped get her ready for her big opportunity.

Emily Burnham with Ken Jennings on Jeopardy!, Sony Pictures Entertainment

"I've taken the Anytime Test many times over the years, but this was the first time Jeopardy! actually got back to me afterwards. I was totally gobsmacked when they finally called me to tell me I was invited to be on the show."

Burnham, who used to work for the Bangor Daily news until last year is now a self-employed grant writer, fundraiser, editor, and freelance writer.

You can check out some of her recent work at theothermaine.com.

She says keeping this a secret for the past two months has not been easy.

"You have no idea how hard it’s been to keep my mouth shut all this time. I somehow managed to go to California last month and only a select few people knew what I was doing, or that I was even going at all! I still can’t believe this actually happened to me."

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As for what the experience was like, filming her episode of Jeopardy!, Burnham says it was all so much bigger than dreamed it would be.

"People often say that a TV studio is smaller than it appears on camera, but the big Jeopardy! screen is really as huge as it seems. It kind of feels like trivia Valhalla. It was so cool."

Burnham says her favorite types of categories are pop culture, history, geography and literature.

And while we won't know where Burnham finished in the episode until we watch it next week, the fact that this Maine native had the chance to take part in such a cool moment while representing her home state, makes her a champion in our book already.

"Going on Jeopardy! was definitely a lifelong dream for me, and it was as amazing an experience as you might expect. I grew up in a Jeopardy! family, and my mom Nancy even auditioned for the show back in the day. It was totally thrilling and so fun, and I can't wait for folks to watch next week!...I hope I did Bangor proud."

Burnham's episode will air Wednesday September 23rd at 7:30 EST on ABC.

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Gallery Credit: Sean McKenna