Seff Meyers

Seff Meyers is a fictional character in the&#160;Johnny Thumb Series. He&#160;is&#160;Johnny Thumb's&#160;best friend and right hand man.&#160;

Early Life&#160;
Seff Jeremiah Meyers was born on November 7th, 1906, in the Bronx to Eloise&#160;and Faivish Meyers. Both of his parents were the children of Jewish immigrants. Seff's family was fairly stable financially, until his father left when he was two years old. They then fell into extreme poverty and Seff's mother became an alcoholic who used most of her meagre wage as a factory worker to buy more wine for herself.&#160;As a child, Seff was&#160;often sickly and&#160;had suffered a birth defect that rendered his legs bent. From the&#160;age of four to the age of&#160;nine, Seff wore leg braces to corect this defect. Unfortunately, Seff often found himself the target of bullies at grade school because of his braces.&#160;

Seff, his elder&#160;sister Rebekah, and brother Alfred, got menial jobs as soon as they were old enough: washing dishes, sweeping doorsteps, running newspaper routes, and the like. Seff and his siblings also recieved yearly money from both thier maternal and paternal grandparents.

When Seff was ten, his maternal grandmother, Tzeitel Meyers, invested in piano lessons for him. Seff loved playing piano so much that he considered becoming a professional pianist someday. However, by the time he was 17, he'd decided his dream was unrealistic, and he dropped out of high school because he needed a job and had no money to attend college.

The Tangredi Family
Ever since he'd met Johnny in the second grade, Seff had become an unnofical member of the Tangredi family, spending a great deal of time with them rather than with his drunken mother. Since Johnny's family was the only real family Seff had ever known, it didn't take much to convince him to become a member of their "business". At the&#160;age of 17, Seff was accepted into the Tangredi's crime family. Although Seff wasn't&#160;Italian, the Tangredi's&#160;made an acception on account of Seff's useful skills. Seff possed a photographic memory, which was key in duplicating dollars&#160;for their counterfeiting operation. Soon enough, Seff was the head of the operation and had worked&#160;his way up, becoming Johnny's right hand man. However, in 1945, the operation was cut short when the authorites almost discovered that Tangredi's Doughnuts was a front for racketteering and counterfeiting. Shortly thereafter, Seff convinced Johnny to&#160;let him resign from business. Seff had had enough of his life of crime and wanted to go straight.

Meyers&#160;Brand Nasal Tissue&#160;&#160;
In 1946, Seff opened up a tissue company. The brand became highly successful and by 1957 it was second only to Kleenola Brand. From 1955 to 1970, Seff was known for appearing in the brand's television commercials using the slogan "your nose will thank you!". As of 2009, Seff's grandson, Asa Zeigenbein, was the CEO ofcorporation.

Personal Battles and OCD
From about the age of seven, Seff began to suffer from what we today call obsessive compulsive dissorder. The dissorder caused him to be depressed, introverted, and plagued by many phobias for a large porion of his life. Some of his phobias included claustrophobia, mysophobia [fear of germs and dirt], triadeccaphobia [fear of the number 13], fear of rodents, clowns, and even onions. After the&#160;Stock Market crashed in 1929 and his mother lost her home, Seff fell into a period of deep depression. In&#160;January of 1930, he attempted to&#160;commit suicide by jumping off a&#160;seventeen story building. He was stopped&#160;by&#160;Johnny, who&#160;later got him help from the Fruedian psychologist,&#160;Dr. Ludwig Toll. With or without Dr. Toll's help, Seff came&#160;out of his depression and&#160;by the 1950s, his battle with OCD was virtually over.&#160;

Death&#160;
Seff Meyers died on June 16th, 2002, from old age. He was 96 years old.

Shayna Schullman
Seff met Shayna Schullman&#160;in 1933, and shortly after meeting, they&#160;began dating. In January of 1934, despite the objections of&#160;Shayna's father,&#160;Rabbi Isaac Schullman, the two of them got married. Together they had four children: twins&#160;Stanley&#160;and&#160;Stella,&#160;Stephen, and&#160;Stuart. The two remained happily married until Seff's death in 2002. Shayna survived him by two years, passing away&#160;in 2004, also at the age of 96.

Character Development&#160;
Seff Meyers was created by Hannah and Sue Bottenberg. Hannah initially based him loosely on 1940s Jewish gangster, Meyer Lansky.