The Final Jeopardy question (2/24/2012) in the category “Literary Biographies” was:

Quoting a famous line of his, a 2011 biography of this man was titled “And So It Goes.”

Today is the last semi-final match of the 2012 Teachers Tournament and one of these three players will be participating in the exciting 2-match Final: Patrick Quinn; Catherine Whitten or Mary Ann Stanley. At least we hope it will be exciting.

Patrick found the Jeopardy! Daily Double in “Historic Letters” right off the bat. He had $600 and the ladies had nothing. He risked the $1,000 allowance, as anyone in his position would do, but he didn’t know so he was WRONG.

Among those he accused in an 1898 letter were Colonel Du Paty de Clam, General Mercier & General Billot. show

WHO IS EMILE ZOLA?

Catherine had the lead at the end of the round with $3,800. Patrick was right behind her with $3,400 and Mary Ann was in third place with $1,600.

In Double Jeopardy, Mary Ann got the first Daily Double in “Hospital Departments.” She was in second place with $6,400, $1,200 less than Patrick. She bet $3,000 and she was RIGHT.

At the other end of life from the NICU is the GICU, short for this. show

WHAT IS THE GERIATRIC INTENSIVE CARE UNIT?

Mary Ann also got the last Daily Double in the category “Broadway.” She now held the lead with $10,200, $1,600 more than Patrick. She bet $2,000 and she was RIGHT.

1927’s “The Royal Family” was a comic portrayal of this American theatrical family of the day” show

WHO ARE THE BARRYMORES

Mary Ann finished first, going into Final Jeopardy! with $13,800. Patrick wasn’t far behind with $11,800 and Catherine was still in the game with $6,200.

Two correct Daily Doubles today, but not even one teacher got Final Jeopardy! right.

WHO IS KURT VONNEGUT?

“And So It Goes: Kurt Vonnegut, a Life” was a New York Times Notable Book and Washington Post Non-Fiction Notable Book in 2011. Charles J. Shields, who also wrote a biography of Harper Lee, found out that Vonnegut was peeved no one had tried to write his biography, so he thought he’d take that endeavor on. Initially unsuccessful, he persisted and received permission in the form of a postcard featuring a self-portrait of Vonnegut smoking a cigarette along with the concise message: “OK.” Shields’ time with Vonnegut was short. They began their collaboration in 2006 but it ended a year later when the author had a bad fall and died a month later. Shields was granted access to Vonnegut’s correspondence and was able to complete his work.

As Alex Trebek mentioned, the refrain “So it goes” was a constant (used 106 times) in Vonnegut’s 1969 satirical novel about WWII, Slaughterhouse-Five. Vonnegut graded his own novels and this is one of two he gave himself an A+ for. The other is “Cat’s Cradle. There are several tributes to Vonnegut on youtube entitled “So It Goes,” including a song by Rich Restaino (of Rich Restaino & the Obits).

Catherine wrote down “Mark Twain” and bet all her money so she ended up with nothing.

Patrick initially thought it was Oscar Wilde, but instead opted for “Dickens” and bet $6,011. He finished with $5,789.

Twain, Wilde and Dickens are all highly quoted authors, but none of them were associated with a repetitive catchphrase, as far as we know.

Mary Ann wrote down “Walter Cronkite,” whose catchphrase was “And that’s the way it is.” She bet $13,750. So she finished with $50 and Patrick became the last finalist.

Patrick Quinn, Justin Hofstetter and Brooks Humphreys are coming back next Monday and Tuesday. Even getting third place will be a nice payday — $25,000. That’s pretty hot when you look at today’s final scores, ain’t it?