Jack Allen

Jack Allen is John Avery Whittaker's oldest and dearest friend, a companion since boyhood who arrives in Odyssey hoping to surprise Whit and instead ends up minding Whit's End while its founder is serving overseas. Quiet, patient, and unassuming, he knows Whit's tricks - he taught Whit the famous ice-cream curl in the first place - and the children of the town quickly take to his gentle manner. Jack is a painter, once ran a Nebraska orphanage, and carries a deep, prayerful faith first stirred by young Whit's calm trust in Jesus; he sometimes has vivid dreams he believes carry meaning for the town. Cautious where Whit's son Jason is bold, he counsels patience, prayer, forgiveness, and doing good in secret, becoming a steady spiritual anchor for friends like Connie, Eugene, and the kids of Odyssey.