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(1862-1910)

Who Was William Sydney Porter?

William Sydney Porter, writing as O. Henry, was an American short story writer.

He wrote in a dry, humorous style and, as in his popular story "The Gift of the Magi," often ironically used coincidences and surprise endings. After he was released from prison in 1902, Porter went to New York, his home and the setting of most of his fiction for the remainder of his life.

Writing prodigiously, he went on to become a revered American writer.

Early Life

Born William Sydney Porter, on September 11, 1862, in Greensboro, North Carolina. The American short-story writer pioneered in picturing the lives of lower-class and middle-class New Yorkers.

Porter attended school for a short time, then clerked in an uncle's drugstore.

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At the age of 20, Porter went to Texas, working first on a ranch and later as a bank teller. In 1887, he married Athol Estes and began to write freelance sketches. A few years later he foun