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Charles Patton was sure that 007 actor Roger Moore did, in fact, write the memoir, “My Word is My Bond.”
 

But he didn’t want to risk guessing wrong, especially after two lifelines failed to come through.
 

So, he decided to walk away with $10,000 instead of going for the grand prize Wednesday on “Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?”
 

The answer was, in fact, Moore. The other choices were Sean Connery, Timothy Dalton and Pierce Brosnan.
 

“I was frustrated for 10 seconds because I thought I was right,” the band instructor from Graham said. “I said at the very beginning, 'Uh, Roger Moore is the one that sticks out in my head here.’ ”
 

The 25-year-old Patton went to New York last month to compete on the game show and appeared on two episodes that aired Tuesday and Wednesday on WXLV (ABC, Channel 45).
 

He racked up $10,000 on the show Tuesday after correctly answering, “In his weekly sign-off on 'American Top 40,’ host Casey Kasem told listeners to 'Keep your feet on the ground, and keep’ what?” The answer was “reaching for the stars.” The next day’s show kicked off with the Bond question. Patton decided to use one of his lifelines and call his aunt, Mary Alice Ramsey. She didn’t know the answer. Then he used another lifeline by talking to news anchor Robin Meade. She didn’t know the answer either.
 

At that point, he told host Meredith Vieira that he would just take the $10,000.
 

If he had answered correctly, he would have gotten $12,500. However, if he had decided to take a guess and got it wrong, he would have walked away with only $5,000.
 

Patton, who teaches at Southern Alamance High School, watched the episodes with friends at the Piedmont Ale House in Burlington.
 

“When neither of my lifelines knew, they were like, 'Golly, what’s going to happen?’ ” he said. “So it was interesting to see how into it they got. Ultimately, I think they were sad to not see me get further.”
 

But Patton said he doesn’t regret the experience.
 

“I got to go hang out in New York for a few days, met a lot of really neat people, a lot of people smarter than I am,” he said.
 

He expects to receive a check in about 30 days. The UNC-Chapel Hill graduate plans to buy a ukulele and use the rest of his winnings to pay off college loans.

Contact Robert C. Lopez at 691-5091 or robert.lopez@news-record.com