1. O. Henry Pen Name of William Sydney Porter Born September 11, 1862
Died June 5, 1910
By Egor Gulevskiy 7B

2. “Life is made up of sobs, sniffles, and smiles, with sniffles predominating.” O. Henry

3. 1862-1877 Born in Greensboro, North Carolina
Began reading at a young age
Loved dime novels in particular
Favorite childhood book was Arabian Nights
Quit school at age 15 to become a pharmacist

4.
At age 19, became a fully licensed pharmacist and worked in his uncle’s drug store.
He had quite a reputation for being a prankster.
He was troubled with an ongoing cough which worried him because both his grandmother and mother had died of tuberculosis.
A serious
disease
primarily
affecting
the lungs.

5.
With his intense fear of tuberculosis, he moved to Texas, a state known for its hot, dry climate.
Here, he took a job as a cowboy- an unusual cowboy since he was known to walk around the ranch with a pocket dictionary and a book of poems.
In 1887 he married Athol Estes and became a bank teller.

6.
1894- He started a humorous weekly newspaper named The Rolling Stone which went under after only a year.
1896- arrested for stealing funds from the bank where he worked.
He then fled to Honduras which is where he was when his wife, only 29, died of tuberculosis.
1898- his first short story was published (“Whistling Dick’s Christmas Stocking”)
served 3 years of a 5 year sentence in prison.
1901- released early and changed his name to O. Henry as a way to leave his shameful past behind. (This theme of change resurfaces in many of his later short stories.)

7.
1902- moved to New York City, the setting for most of his stories.
1904- published his first collection of stories: Cabbages and Kings
1906- published his second collection of stories which made him famous, The Four Million.
1907- remarried to a woman named Sara Lindsay Coleman whom he had known when he was a young boy.
The marriage was very unhappy and they were extremely poor despite his beginning success as a writer.
1910- died of cirrhosis of the liver.

8. Pseudonym No one knows for sure how he chose his pen name. Theories:
The European chemist O. Henry, as seen in pharmacy magazines.
African-American ranch hand, an excellent storyteller, named Old Henry.
Cowboy song with the line, “Oh Henry, what sentence have you got?”
Customer at bank named Henry who was frequently called back to the counter with “Oh, Henry!”
Wharf master in Honduras whom others called “Oh Hennery.”
Captain of prison guard whose name was O. Henry in the account books.

9. A Few Interesting Facts…
O. Henry wrote about 300 short stories, most of them in the last 10 years of his life.
He had only 23¢ in his pocket when he died.
His funeral was mistakenly scheduled for the same time as a wedding ceremony.
One of America’s most prestigious literary prizes, the O. Henry Award, was established in his honor. It honors short stories of exceptional merit.

10. Bibliography