50. A Grandfather's Love
A tribute to John Avery Whittaker.
By David Hilder | January 31, 2023
A tribute to John Avery Whittaker.
By David Hilder | January 31, 2023
Knowing that Mr. Whittaker is still at Whit’s End is a comforting thought. It means that all is right with the world, or at least with the town of Odyssey. John Avery Whittaker is Adventures in Odyssey’s anchor, its solid rock. Even when he went away to the Middle East for a number of years, I think it was his legacy and his lasting influence that helped keep the people of Odyssey going. The main characters who took over in his absence had already been changed just by knowing Mr. Whittaker, either as a close friend (Jack) or as a father (Jason) or as a father figure (Connie and Eugene). Each character on the show is unique. But Mr. Whittaker is uniquely inspiring. In Whit’s absence these remaining characters had to do their best to be Mr. Whittaker, filling in for a man whose most important role is this: being a loving grandfather figure to the kids of Odyssey.
Whit’s life speaks for itself. He is as an incredible example to us all. And that’s not to take away from AIO’s other characters. As I said in my tribute to Connie Kendall in Editorial 28, Connie is perhaps the most relatable character on the show. She’s just an ordinary girl living in the extraordinary world of Odyssey. She isn’t an inventor or a computer whiz or an international spy. She’s not particularly zany like Odyssey’s favorite mailman. She’s pretty normal. She is one of us. In contrast, Eugene Meltsner is pretty abnormal. I pay tribute to him in Editorial 37, in which I describe Eugene as a walking dictionary with a heart. And his close friends know it. It was Eugene’s relationships with the people of Odyssey that influenced his spiritual journey. Part-robot and part-human, Eugene is the best of both worlds. His mind may be full to the brim with knowledge, but his heart is quite full too.
In his first episode, we meet Mr. Whittaker as a kindly, grandfatherly shop owner and apparently failed inventor. He can’t even get a photocopier to work properly. But there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes. Like Aslan he's good, but he's not safe. Like Professor Kirke in the first Narnia story, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, there’s more to this elderly man than first meets the eye.
Mr. Whittaker has many sides to him, from inventor to veteran, from former high school teacher to current ice cream purveyor. Whit is Odyssey’s renaissance man. Though Richard Maxwell may claim that title for himself in Album 5, Mr. Whittaker is the one character who truly deserves it. Whit is skilled and experienced in a wide variety of fields, from computer programming to writing to archaeology. His diverse talents have brought him connections with important people all over the world. And they’re the ones looking to Whit for help and direction. John Avery Whittaker is kind of a big deal. He could do anything he wants or live anywhere he wants. And yet what he enjoys best, what he really seems to place value in, is being Odyssey’s grandfather. Serving ice cream and spending time with kids who need him is more important than any other job.
Despite the impression that Whit’s Flop (Album 1) gives us, Whit is a master inventor. And on his inventing journey he’s learned the lesson of failure, that no one succeeds at anything without failing first. He kept Whit’s Flop all those years as a reminder of that lesson. If he had given up on inventing then, he wouldn’t have brought virtual reality to life in the Imagination Station (before VR was a thing). He wouldn’t have dabbled in artificial intelligence with his talking computer MABEL (before AI was a thing). The Room of Consequence, the Inspiration Station, the interactive portrait gallery—none of the inventions of Whit’s End would have existed if Whit had given up. And though Whit’s inventions are amazing and groundbreaking, he doesn’t make them into idols. He’s perfectly capable of letting them go, whether that’s deleting the computer program Applesauce during the Blackgaard saga or blowing up the Imagination Station at the end of the Novacom saga. All the most advanced technology in the world doesn’t mean as much to him as the people it’s meant to serve.
Though he’s not perfect, Whit is a man with his priorities in order. He serves people because that’s what God has called him to do. He serves the children of Odyssey, having created the safe haven of Whit’s End for them in the midst of a world that’s gone off-track. He still serves his late wife in the process, bringing to life her dream of a place where kids can just be kids. He served as a teacher for decades, both in middle school and high school. Even Sunday school. Though he was never a professor like Professor Kirke, Mr. Whittaker would have made a great one. He could have his pick of teachable subjects too: English, American History, Public Speaking, Radiobroadcasting, Computer Science, Archaeology, Top Secret Government Training 101, etc. He serves as chairman of the board at the Universal Press Foundation, publishing the Universal Encyclopedia. He even served his country during World War II as a U.S. Navy signalman in the Pacific. His battle-scarred ear is testament to his bravery in the Battle of Guadalcanal, in which he risked his life to save the lives of an entire transport of soldiers. The act is reminiscent of the film It’s a Wonderful Life, in which George Bailey’s brother is celebrated for saving the lives of a transport of soldiers.
And speaking of George Bailey, whose repeated intercession saves the little town of Bedford Falls from falling into the clutches of the villainous Mr. Potter, it is the presence of John Avery Whittaker that time and again saves the town of Odyssey. Mr. Whittaker is the whole reason Odyssey looks the way it does. It’s because of his legacy that Whit’s End exists, that Connie still lives there and became a Christian, that Eugene came to faith. If Whit had never come to Odyssey, he’d leave an awful hole. You wouldn’t have Odyssey at all, you’d have Glossman-ville or Blackgaard-ville. Without Whit we might even have Nova-world. As Connie says in Recollections, Whit really is an incredible man.
And yet, Whit lives very much under the radar. Though he’s quite wealthy, he lives a relatively simple life in a small town. He could live a life among the rich and powerful, but Mr. Whittaker chooses to spend the majority of his time teaching the Bible and literally serving the children of Odyssey at his ice cream shop and discovery emporium. It makes me so happy to hear Whit still working the front counter in the latest episodes of the show, serving ice cream sundaes to kids. That this incredible man would be so humble is very touching.
Mr. Whittaker understands what’s important. And although he’s had a great influence on all kinds of people in Odyssey, young and old and everything in between, the real reason he’s there is for the kids. Without that purpose, without the mission created for Whit’s End, I really doubt Mr. Whittaker would have stuck around in Odyssey very long after his wife’s death. Being such a renaissance man, there are so many other things he could have done with his retirement.
But he decided to stay. He stayed because God gave him a heart for kids, and the kids of the little town of Odyssey in particular. His most important role on the show is grandfather—a grandfather figure to all the kids of Odyssey. He’s been there for generations of kids, from Davey Holcomb (now grown up) to Jimmy Barclay (also grown up but probably with more growing up still to do), from Mandy Straussberg to Olivia Parker. He’s been there for their joys and their sorrows. And believe me, the jolly Mr. Whittaker understands sorrow. He is a wounded man, having lost his sister Charlotte to cancer, his son Jerry in Vietnam, and his wife Jenny to illness. He was prevented from adopting the girl Clara, which cut him to his core. His strained relationship with his daughter Jana has been known to cause him pain as well. But he finds his strength in the Lord. Stormy Weather (Album 2) shows us how Whit reacts to adversity. When trouble strikes, Whit finds comfort in the Psalms. He cannot forget God’s goodness, despite his sorrows. And so he keeps fighting the good fight, serving in the place where God has placed him.
We’re less likely to trust authority figures these days. Fathers and grandfathers no longer have the standing they once did. When political or faith leaders fail, when they show themselves untrustworthy, we begin to get cynical. Could someone like Mr. Whittaker really exist? Could someone really be so dedicated to serving others, expecting nothing in return? Our world is skeptical. But Adventures in Odyssey has hope. Whit is an example to strive for. He’s incredible, but not because he does incredible things like working on top secret government programs or being a war hero. Whit is incredible because he is faithful to God’s calling, no matter the circumstance, whether that’s a call to serve in the U.S. Navy, or a call to serve ice cream in a small town.
Whit is a living legacy, the retired man who never retired. The more we discover about him, the more amazing we realize he really is. He is a well of wisdom and experience, a model of faith and faithfulness, of courage, kindness, and love. His embodiment of humility should humble us all. As George Barclay learns in It’s a Pokenberry Christmas (Album 31), “no man is a failure who loves God.” And despite his failings, Mr. Whittaker is no failure. Not even close. He is a good and faithful servant—a loving grandfather figure to every child in Odyssey, and every listener too. I hope you have someone like Mr. Whittaker in your life. And even if you don’t, maybe one day you can be a Mr. Whittaker to your own family and the people around you. More than any other character on Adventures in Odyssey, John Avery Whittaker is an example and an inspiration.
Whit’s life speaks for itself. He is as an incredible example to us all. And that’s not to take away from AIO’s other characters. As I said in my tribute to Connie Kendall in Editorial 28, Connie is perhaps the most relatable character on the show. She’s just an ordinary girl living in the extraordinary world of Odyssey. She isn’t an inventor or a computer whiz or an international spy. She’s not particularly zany like Odyssey’s favorite mailman. She’s pretty normal. She is one of us. In contrast, Eugene Meltsner is pretty abnormal. I pay tribute to him in Editorial 37, in which I describe Eugene as a walking dictionary with a heart. And his close friends know it. It was Eugene’s relationships with the people of Odyssey that influenced his spiritual journey. Part-robot and part-human, Eugene is the best of both worlds. His mind may be full to the brim with knowledge, but his heart is quite full too.
In his first episode, we meet Mr. Whittaker as a kindly, grandfatherly shop owner and apparently failed inventor. He can’t even get a photocopier to work properly. But there’s a lot more going on behind the scenes. Like Aslan he's good, but he's not safe. Like Professor Kirke in the first Narnia story, The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, there’s more to this elderly man than first meets the eye.
Mr. Whittaker has many sides to him, from inventor to veteran, from former high school teacher to current ice cream purveyor. Whit is Odyssey’s renaissance man. Though Richard Maxwell may claim that title for himself in Album 5, Mr. Whittaker is the one character who truly deserves it. Whit is skilled and experienced in a wide variety of fields, from computer programming to writing to archaeology. His diverse talents have brought him connections with important people all over the world. And they’re the ones looking to Whit for help and direction. John Avery Whittaker is kind of a big deal. He could do anything he wants or live anywhere he wants. And yet what he enjoys best, what he really seems to place value in, is being Odyssey’s grandfather. Serving ice cream and spending time with kids who need him is more important than any other job.
Despite the impression that Whit’s Flop (Album 1) gives us, Whit is a master inventor. And on his inventing journey he’s learned the lesson of failure, that no one succeeds at anything without failing first. He kept Whit’s Flop all those years as a reminder of that lesson. If he had given up on inventing then, he wouldn’t have brought virtual reality to life in the Imagination Station (before VR was a thing). He wouldn’t have dabbled in artificial intelligence with his talking computer MABEL (before AI was a thing). The Room of Consequence, the Inspiration Station, the interactive portrait gallery—none of the inventions of Whit’s End would have existed if Whit had given up. And though Whit’s inventions are amazing and groundbreaking, he doesn’t make them into idols. He’s perfectly capable of letting them go, whether that’s deleting the computer program Applesauce during the Blackgaard saga or blowing up the Imagination Station at the end of the Novacom saga. All the most advanced technology in the world doesn’t mean as much to him as the people it’s meant to serve.
Though he’s not perfect, Whit is a man with his priorities in order. He serves people because that’s what God has called him to do. He serves the children of Odyssey, having created the safe haven of Whit’s End for them in the midst of a world that’s gone off-track. He still serves his late wife in the process, bringing to life her dream of a place where kids can just be kids. He served as a teacher for decades, both in middle school and high school. Even Sunday school. Though he was never a professor like Professor Kirke, Mr. Whittaker would have made a great one. He could have his pick of teachable subjects too: English, American History, Public Speaking, Radiobroadcasting, Computer Science, Archaeology, Top Secret Government Training 101, etc. He serves as chairman of the board at the Universal Press Foundation, publishing the Universal Encyclopedia. He even served his country during World War II as a U.S. Navy signalman in the Pacific. His battle-scarred ear is testament to his bravery in the Battle of Guadalcanal, in which he risked his life to save the lives of an entire transport of soldiers. The act is reminiscent of the film It’s a Wonderful Life, in which George Bailey’s brother is celebrated for saving the lives of a transport of soldiers.
And speaking of George Bailey, whose repeated intercession saves the little town of Bedford Falls from falling into the clutches of the villainous Mr. Potter, it is the presence of John Avery Whittaker that time and again saves the town of Odyssey. Mr. Whittaker is the whole reason Odyssey looks the way it does. It’s because of his legacy that Whit’s End exists, that Connie still lives there and became a Christian, that Eugene came to faith. If Whit had never come to Odyssey, he’d leave an awful hole. You wouldn’t have Odyssey at all, you’d have Glossman-ville or Blackgaard-ville. Without Whit we might even have Nova-world. As Connie says in Recollections, Whit really is an incredible man.
And yet, Whit lives very much under the radar. Though he’s quite wealthy, he lives a relatively simple life in a small town. He could live a life among the rich and powerful, but Mr. Whittaker chooses to spend the majority of his time teaching the Bible and literally serving the children of Odyssey at his ice cream shop and discovery emporium. It makes me so happy to hear Whit still working the front counter in the latest episodes of the show, serving ice cream sundaes to kids. That this incredible man would be so humble is very touching.
Mr. Whittaker understands what’s important. And although he’s had a great influence on all kinds of people in Odyssey, young and old and everything in between, the real reason he’s there is for the kids. Without that purpose, without the mission created for Whit’s End, I really doubt Mr. Whittaker would have stuck around in Odyssey very long after his wife’s death. Being such a renaissance man, there are so many other things he could have done with his retirement.
But he decided to stay. He stayed because God gave him a heart for kids, and the kids of the little town of Odyssey in particular. His most important role on the show is grandfather—a grandfather figure to all the kids of Odyssey. He’s been there for generations of kids, from Davey Holcomb (now grown up) to Jimmy Barclay (also grown up but probably with more growing up still to do), from Mandy Straussberg to Olivia Parker. He’s been there for their joys and their sorrows. And believe me, the jolly Mr. Whittaker understands sorrow. He is a wounded man, having lost his sister Charlotte to cancer, his son Jerry in Vietnam, and his wife Jenny to illness. He was prevented from adopting the girl Clara, which cut him to his core. His strained relationship with his daughter Jana has been known to cause him pain as well. But he finds his strength in the Lord. Stormy Weather (Album 2) shows us how Whit reacts to adversity. When trouble strikes, Whit finds comfort in the Psalms. He cannot forget God’s goodness, despite his sorrows. And so he keeps fighting the good fight, serving in the place where God has placed him.
We’re less likely to trust authority figures these days. Fathers and grandfathers no longer have the standing they once did. When political or faith leaders fail, when they show themselves untrustworthy, we begin to get cynical. Could someone like Mr. Whittaker really exist? Could someone really be so dedicated to serving others, expecting nothing in return? Our world is skeptical. But Adventures in Odyssey has hope. Whit is an example to strive for. He’s incredible, but not because he does incredible things like working on top secret government programs or being a war hero. Whit is incredible because he is faithful to God’s calling, no matter the circumstance, whether that’s a call to serve in the U.S. Navy, or a call to serve ice cream in a small town.
Whit is a living legacy, the retired man who never retired. The more we discover about him, the more amazing we realize he really is. He is a well of wisdom and experience, a model of faith and faithfulness, of courage, kindness, and love. His embodiment of humility should humble us all. As George Barclay learns in It’s a Pokenberry Christmas (Album 31), “no man is a failure who loves God.” And despite his failings, Mr. Whittaker is no failure. Not even close. He is a good and faithful servant—a loving grandfather figure to every child in Odyssey, and every listener too. I hope you have someone like Mr. Whittaker in your life. And even if you don’t, maybe one day you can be a Mr. Whittaker to your own family and the people around you. More than any other character on Adventures in Odyssey, John Avery Whittaker is an example and an inspiration.
This site is in no way affiliated with Focus on the Family. "Adventures in Odyssey" is a registered trademark of Focus on the Family.