O Henry

What You Want O Henry

Publisher Marketing: A man rich enough to despise everything that money can buy goes out and tries to want something that he can't pay for. William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 - June 5, 1910), known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American writer. O. Henry's short stories are known for their wit, wordplay, warm characterization and clever twist endings. William Sidney Porter was born on September 11, 1862, in Greensboro, North Carolina. He changed the spelling of his middle name to Sydney in 1898. His parents were Dr. Algernon Sidney Porter (1825-88), a physician, and Mary Jane Virginia Swaim Porter (1833-65). They were married on April 20, 1858. When William was three, his mother died from tuberculosis, and he and his father moved into the home of his paternal grandmother. As a child, Porter was always reading, everything from classics to dime novels; his favorite works were Lane's translation of One Thousand and One Nights, and Burton's Anatomy of Melancholy. Porter graduated from his aunt Evelina Maria Porter's elementary school in 1876. He then enrolled at the Lindsey Street High School. His aunt continued to tutor him until he was fifteen. In 1879, he started working in his uncle's drugstore and in 1881, at the age of nineteen, he was licensed as a pharmacist. At the drugstore, he also showed off his natural artistic talents by sketching the townsfolk. Contributor Bio:  Henry, O O. Henry (William Sydney Porter, 1862-1910) was an American short-story writer. In his writing, O. Henry was able to catch the color and movement of the city and showed a genuine sympathy for ordinary people. Some of his works include "Cabbages and Kings", "Roads of Destiny", and "Strictly Business" among many others.