O. Henry (1862–1910) was the pen name of William Sydney Porter, an American writer of some six hundred short stories famous for their wit, warmth and surprise endings. The Gift of the Magi, The Ransom of Red Chief and The Last Leaf are among the best known. Many of his stories portray the ordinary people of New York.
From North Carolina to Texas
William Sydney Porter was born in 1862 in Greensboro, North Carolina. His mother died when he was three, and he was raised by his grandmother and an aunt. He left school at fifteen and worked in his uncle's drugstore, becoming a licensed pharmacist.
In 1882 he went to Texas for his health and worked on a sheep ranch, where he learned Spanish, then in Austin as a draftsman, a bank teller and the editor of a humorous weekly, The Rolling Stone. In 1887 he married Athol Estes.
Prison
In 1896 Porter was accused of embezzling money from the bank where he had worked. Before his trial he fled to Honduras, but returned the following year when he learned that his wife was dying. He was convicted and sentenced to five years in the federal penitentiary in Columbus, Ohio.
Working as the prison pharmacist, he began to publish stories in magazines under several pseudonyms, including O. Henry, to hide his identity. He was released for good behaviour in 1901, after three years.
New York
In 1902 he moved to New York, where he wrote a story a week for the New York World and many more for magazines. The Four Million (1906), whose title answered a society figure's claim that only four hundred people in New York mattered, celebrated clerks, shop girls and the poor.
Hugely popular, he published a dozen collections, but drank heavily and spent his money freely. He died in New York in 1910, at forty-seven. The O. Henry Award, created in 1919, is still given every year to the best American short stories.
Anecdotes
The origin of the pen name
Porter gave several explanations for his pen name. One story says it came from a prison guard named Orrin Henry; another that he took it from a society column; another that it came from a cry addressed to a cat. He himself enjoyed keeping the mystery.
Written in a hurry
O. Henry was famous for writing at the last minute. The Gift of the Magi is said to have been written in a few hours in 1905 at Pete's Tavern, a bar near Gramercy Park in New York, to meet a deadline. The tavern still displays a sign recalling the story.
Frequently asked questions
What is O. Henry's real name?
William Sydney Porter.
What are O. Henry's most famous stories?
The Gift of the Magi, The Ransom of Red Chief, The Last Leaf, The Cop and the Anthem and After Twenty Years.
What is an O. Henry ending?
A surprise twist at the end of a story, often ironic or touching, for which his stories are famous.