UPPER ARLINGTON, Ohio — Donna Matturri, a librarian at the Upper Arlington Public Library, took third place on "Jeopardy!" Tuesday night.
Matturri had the lead going into Final Jeopardy!, but risked $6,000 of her $8,400 and lost. The Final Jeopardy! was "In 1896 new spider species were named for a wolf, a panther & a snake from a work published 2 years earlier by this man." The correct response was Rudyard Kipling.
Matturri's total winnings are $40,200.
As a librarian working in the media department at UAPL for the last two years, Matturri credits her time spent at the library and her previous job in adult services as beneficial tools in helping her through the process of studying and auditioning.
But it wasn’t her idea to audition.
“I never thought I’d actually do it,” Matturri said. “I’ve watched Jeopardy at home since I was little. It was like a family thing that we all would watch after dinner. Mostly my husband was the one who encouraged me to try because I would answer questions at home and get stuff right. So he encouraged me to take the test to get on, and I did.”
Before her current run on "Jeopardy!", Matturri previously auditioned in 2021 but didn’t get the call to be on the show. She decided to test and audition again in January 2023, this time getting the long-awaited call.
She encourages others to audition as well if they too find themselves shouting out "Jeopardy!" answers at home to their TV’s.
Above all, Matturri is thankful for all the support she has received following the announcement of her appearance on the show.
“I’m really grateful to have such a supportive community,” she said. “Everyone here has really embraced the idea of having someone in their local library be on Jeopardy and it’s just been really heartwarming to see how people are excited.”