What is Dead?

Would be the perfect answer to the clue "How you would describe former Jeopardy! writer Steven Dorfman." Dorfman, who joined Jeopardy! when it was relaunched in 1984 and was the most prolific writer in the show's history with more than 50,000 questions to his credit, died yesterday at the age of 48. He was a member of a team of writers who were awarded six Daytime Emmys for special-class writing. His eclectic interests and offbeat sense of humor led to the additions of such categories as Wacky Roman Emperors, Original Crayola Colors and Grub, Shrub or Beelzebub?