Description
Smoke and Silence: The Lives of Ol’ Mort is a folk memoir that traces the extraordinary life of Sgt. Levi Morton “Mort” Osborne, an Appalachian man whose quiet strength, loyalty, and legend endured across ten generations.
Born in 1892 in the Tygarts Valley of Greenup County, Kentucky, Mort was raised in a world of hard work, deep woods, and firm values. From his earliest days helping on the family farm to hunting squirrels with handmade ammunition, Mort earned a reputation for resilience.
After the tragic death of his brother in a rare mountain lion attack, Mort was drafted into World War I. He fought bravely in France, earning the Distinguished Service Cross, and briefly fell in love with a woman named Elise—an African-French kitchen worker—in a time and place that didn’t make such love easy. Their bond, though brief, left a lasting impression.
Returning to Kentucky, Mort felt the restlessness of survival. He traveled west, worked with Pancho Villa in Mexico (a blend of family lore and folk narrative), and eventually made his way back home. There, he met and married Kansas Johnson, raised children, and worked as a farmer and rural postman.
During Prohibition, Mort turned to bootlegging—not out of rebellion, but necessity. Stories of him outsmarting the law, flipping over FBI cars, and being outdrunk by no one became legend in the valley. Through every season of life, Mort remained steady: a man who never asked for much, but gave everything.
The story closes with Mort’s passing in 1968, a bullet from the war still lodged in his hip. He died quietly, like he lived, but the stories carried on. Told through the voice of his great-great-grandson, this memoir captures the spirit, silence, and smoke of a man who defined an era.
SOFTBACK VERSION
Tanner Willis
