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 Leonard Meltsner
History
Leonard was a famous archaeologist, describing himself at
one point as one of the most successful in the world. He and his wife
Thelma Meltsner were held captive by Dalton Kearn at an archaeological
dig for twenty years. Leonard was thought to be dead for twenty years
until Eugene and Katrina Meltsner found proof of him being alive while
they were on a trip to Africa, discovering his work with the Ashanti
tribe, who called Leonard "Morati."
When Leonard came to live in Odyssey, he did so while greatly afraid of
being found by Dalton, who was searching for him to imprison him once
again. However, Eugene, Katrina, Whit, and Jason rose to the challenge,
and Jason, Eugene, and Leonard returned to Africa to find the needed
evidence to bring Dalton to justice for his numerous crimes--the NSA had
no solid proof to bring Dalton to trial, and Leonard's testimony would
not have been enough. The trio searched for a videotape Leonard made of
Dalton's abusive behavior while Leonard and Thelma were his prisoners,
and traced the tape from the Ashanti village in which it was stored in
an ancient box to a hotel in New York, where Dalton lived. Disguised as
janitors, Leonard, Jason, and Eugene went to New York, where they
discovered that Dalton had kidnapped Leonard's other son, Everett, from
the dig site where Leonard was imprisoned, and had raised Everett as his
own son. With Whit and Katrina's aid, Dalton was arrested and Everett
learned of his true parentage.
After returning to Odyssey with Eugene, Katrina, and Everett, it was
discovered that Leonard had kidney failure due to untreated diabetes and
would need a new kidney. The doctor said that even if Leonard made it
through the surgery, he would have a maximum of three to ten years to
live. Eugene was the best match as an organ donor, and since he believed
that any time that could be added to his father's life was worth it, he
agreed to donate his kidney to him. During this time, Leonard wrestled
with the guilt of having wanted Thelma to have an abortion when she
became pregnant with Eugene; when Eugene forgave him for this, Leonard
came to the conclusion that he wanted to become a Christian. He
eventually returned to Africa with Everett to minister to the Ashanti
tribe, who were fighting violently among themselves, with the help of
Evan Antero.
Family
Leonard is the father of Eugene Meltsner and Everett
Meltsner. His wife was Thelma Meltsner but he was involved in a
constantly rocky marriage to her. He was the son of Garvey Hiram
Meltsner.
The relationship between Eugene and Leonard was always rocky because of
the constant regret and guilt that Leonard had for encouraging Thelma to
have an abortion before Eugene was born.
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