Smoke and Silence:
The Lives of Ol’ Mort
Smoke and Silence: The Lives of Ol’ Mort is a folk epic memoir built from memory, myth, and the stories passed down across generations in eastern Kentucky. Told in the voice of Mort’s great-great-grandson and rooted in tales shared by Mort’s grandson, this is the story of a man who lived hard and loved quietly—who survived a world war, outran federal agents, raised his family from the land, and became something larger than life.
God’s Oddling:
The title of this book, God’s Oddling, comes from something my father used to call me. For years he called me “oddling” because I had gone away to college and become a writer, and because I didn’t smoke the tobacco we grew or drink the mountain liquor brewed nearby. I was recovering from my heart attack when my father died. During those last days he often visited me at my house, and he still called me “oddling.” … —Jesse Stuart, Greenup, 1960
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Allan Eckert’s Winning of America Series
This Jesse Stuart Foundation best-selling series details accounts of frontiersmen and Native Americans and many dramatic events of the time period. Many years of research went into this popular series that also tells the story of wilderness America itself, its penetration and settlement.
Shop any of the 6 books in the series below, or BUY THE WHOLE SET!
Jesse Stuart Junior Books
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Latest JSF News
JSF best sellers ~ June 7-13
#1 The Frontiersmen, Allan W. Eckert #2 Simon Kenton: Kentucky Scout, Thomas D. Clark #3 (tie) A Sorrow in Our Heart, Allan W. Eckert #3 (tie) White Squaw: The True Story of Jennie Wiley, Arville Wheeler #4 Wilderness Empire, Allan W. Eckert #5 (tie) Appalachian Values, Loyal Jones #5 (tie) The Beatinest Boy, Jesse Stuart #5 (tie) The Conquerors, Allan W. Eckert #5 (tie) A Penny’s Worth of Character, [...]
Eula Hall was a health care heroine
One of eastern Kentucky’s greatest heroines, Eula Riley Hall, died May 8 at her home in Craynor (Floyd County), Kentucky. She was 93. Eula Hall was born into Appalachian poverty on the floor of her family’s four-room cabin in Pike County on October 29, 1927. When she was 14 – just out of middle school – she went to work in a boarding house, cleaning and cooking for miners. [...]
JSF best sellers ~ May 31-June 6
#1 The Frontiersmen, Allan W. Eckert #2 A Penny’s Worth of Character, Jesse Stuart #3 The Wilderness War, Allan W. Eckert #4 Wilderness Empire, Allan W. Eckert #5 Appalachian Values, Loyal Jones
JSF best sellers ~ May 24-30
#1 The Frontiersmen, Allan W. Eckert #2 Twilight of Empire, Allan W. Eckert #3 Wilderness Empire, Allan W. Eckert #4 (tie) Gateway to Empire, Allan W. Eckert #4 (tie) God Bless the USA, Lee Greenwood #4 (tie) A Jesse Stuart Reader, Jesse Stuart #4 (tie) A Penny’s Worth of Character, Jesse Stuart #4 (tie) The Tall Woman, Wilma Dykeman #5 (tie) The Conquerors, Allan W. Eckert #5 (tie) The [...]
Stuart’s writings part of catalyst for current rebirth of interest in Appalachian literature
“A Jesse Stuart Reader” is a collection of 18 short stories, excerpts from “God’s Oddling,” “The Thread That Runs So True,” and “The Year of My Rebirth,” and 26 poems. The book was designed for junior high and high school readers, so it includes study questions for each entry in the book. This book also includes an “Author’s Introduction” to each selection that explains the real-life circumstances that inspired [...]