John Avery Whittaker, (born, 1924-)known to most friends and fans as "Whit", is the main fictional character of Adventures in Odyssey and the namesake of Odyssey's most famous attraction, "Whit's End". The following is a partial list of characters from the radio program Adventures in Odyssey. Adventures in Odyssey, also known as AIO or simply Odyssey, is an Evangelical Christian -themed Radio Odyssey is the fictional setting for the Christian-themed radio program Adventures in Odyssey. Whit's End is the centerpiece of the radio series Adventures in Odyssey, founded owned and operated by John Avery Whittaker. He is a sort of spiritual Christian leader to the children in Odyssey. He was originally voiced by Hal Smith; after Smith's death in 1994, the character of Whit left Odyssey to lead an archaeological mission in Israel for the "Universal Press Foundation". Harold John "Hal" Smith ( August 24, 1916 - January 28, 1994) was an American Character actor and voice-over Year 1994 ( MCMXCIV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link will display full 1994 Gregorian calendar) For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic Israel topics. Whit returned to Odyssey in 1996; since that time, he has been voiced by Paul Herlinger. Adventures in Odyssey, also known as AIO or simply Odyssey, is an Evangelical Christian -themed Radio
The character of "Whit" is somewhat of an enigma. His actual age is never mentioned but we can assume he was in his late teens or early 20's when serving in the Pacific in WWII. This would put him in his late 60's or early 70's for the series but we never really have a hard confirmation of that.
Although born in Scotland, Whit's family moved to Raleigh, North Carolina when he was a child, where his father taught at Duke University and married his stepmother, Fiona. Scotland ( Gaelic: Alba) is a Country in northwest Europethat occupies the northern third of the island of Great Britain. Duke University is a private Research University located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. During a horseback riding accident his stepmother was struck by a branch and she lost her sight as a result and young Whit saw the accident as his fault. In the end her faith and contentment about her situation was the biggest influence on his faith. (These facts are revealed in episode #30: "Thank You, God". )
Whittaker served in the U.S. Navy as a signalman on the USS Irongate during World War II in the Pacific theater, having been deployed shortly before the Battle of Guadalcanal (as revealed in episodes #93: "Rescue from Manatugo Point" & #94: "Operation DIGOUT"). Signalman is a military rank similar to that of Private (rank, but is used within units that specialize in communication World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including The Pacific War was the part of World War II —and preceding conflicts—that took place in the Pacific Ocean, its islands and in East Asia, between The Guadalcanal Campaign, also known as the Battle of Guadalcanal, was fought between August 7, 1942, and February 9, 1943, in the After the war, Whit attended the University of Southern California (with help, presumably, from the G. I. Bill of Rights), where he studied English, and met his future wife, Jenny (as revealed in episodes #464 & #465: "The Triangle, Parts 1 & 2"). The University of Southern California (commonly referred to as USC, SC, Southern California, and incorrectly The GI Bill (officially titled Servicemen's Readjustment Act of 1944 PL346 58 Statutes at Large 284 provided for college or vocational education for returning English studies is an academic discipline that includes the study of Literatures written in the English language (including literatures from the U
Following the war, Whit's history is somewhat unclear. At some point, he founded the "Universal Press Foundation", an encyclopedia publisher, and helped create the Universal Encyclopedia. His time at UPF was also spent working closely with members of the Department of Defense in creation of the powerful computer program, "Applesauce" (#73 "A Bite of Applesauce). Before he founded UPF, he was an award winning english teacher. Eventually, he moved, along with his wife Jenny, to Odyssey after founding UPF. There, he taught grade school children. His wife died there and that inspired him to open Whit's End.
Whit had three children with Jenny: Jerry (who died in the Vietnam War), Jana and Jason.
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