Doug Van Gundy is a poet and musician from
Elkins,
West Virginia
West Virginia is a state in the Appalachian, Mid-Atlantic and Southeastern regions of the United States.The Census Bureau and the Association of American Geographers classify West Virginia as part of the Southern United States while the B ...
. His first book of poems, ''A Life Above Water'', was published by Red Hen Press in 2007. He also plays
fiddle,
guitar
The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...
,
mandolin, and
banjo in the
old-time string band, Born Old.
In August 1999, Van Gundy was a contestant of
ABC's ''
Who Wants to be a Millionaire
''Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?'' (often informally called ''Millionaire'') is an international television game show franchise of British origin, created by David Briggs, Mike Whitehill and Steven Knight. In its format, currently owned and l ...
'', and became the first contestant to win $250,000 on the show. On the $100 question he used the Ask the Audience lifeline, but the question was later deemed ambiguous, and his lifeline was returned to him. He would later win $64,000 without using another lifeline. The $125,000 question asked where
Oswald Oswald may refer to:
People
*Oswald (given name), including a list of people with the name
*Oswald (surname), including a list of people with the name
Fictional characters
*Oswald the Reeve, who tells a tale in Geoffrey Chaucer's ''The Canterbur ...
was arrested for
Kennedy's
assassination—answer, a movie theater. He asked the audience and got the correct answer. On the $250,000 question, he was asked where the
Iditarod Dogsled race ends. He used the 50/50, and then called his friend Ross, and also got the correct answer,
Nome.
References
External links
Web site of Doug Van Gundy
American male poets
Contestants on American game shows
Living people
Musicians from West Virginia
People from Elkins, West Virginia
Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?
Poets from West Virginia
1966 births
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