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January 14, 2008
Desperate Writers: A few days ago, I talked about how JK Rowling got her start – how she was hungry to make her first sale. There are, of course many examples of hungry writers who create stories from a situation of desperation. Another writer who came to mind is William Sydney Porter writing under the name O. Henry. Here’s a little about his story: Born during the height of the Civil War in 1862 at Greensboro, North Carolina, William lost his mother at the age of three and moved with his father (Dr. Algernon Porter) and brother Shirley (yes that’s the right name) to grandmother’s home. He did well in school and became a licensed pharmacist by the age of 19.
For health reasons (people tend to be healthier in Texas), Porter moved from North Carolina to La Salle County, Texas in 1882, first working as a ranch hand, then going on to Austin to accept a job as a pharmacist at the Morley Brothers Drug Store on East 6th Street.
William dug into the Austin society, joined the Austin Grays as a lieutenant (a precursor to the National Guard) and organized a singing group known as the “Hill City Quartet.” In 1887 he married Athol Estes and in 1889 she gave birth to a daughter, Margaret.
Predating the popular entertainment magazine of today of the same name, Porter started an Austin newspaper named The Rolling Stone in 1891. Although it reached a circulation of 1,000 (in a city of 11,000) it was never really profitable, and it lasted only a year. In the meantime, Porter took a job as a teller at the First Nation Bank. This was either a huge mistake or a very fortunate circumstance (for posterity) because that job ending up birthing O. Henry.
In 1884 Porter was accused of embezzling funds from the bank, a charge he forever denied. Afraid of prosecution, he hightailed it to Honduras. However, he soon learned that his wife was very ill, and he returned to care for her. Shortly after her death (buried in Oakwood cemetery), he was convicted and sent to the Ohio State Penitentiary.
With a nine year old daughter to support, Porter turned to the only thing he could think of to do in prison, write stories. His first success was a short story titled “The Miracle of Lava Canyon” published by the S. S. McClure Company. He wrote it under the name O. Henry to separate the “author” from the “convict.”
O. Henry (as he was now called) served three years in prison and left the big house as an up-and-coming short story author. To go where the money was, he moved to New York to pursue his writing career. However, Texas was still on his mind. He used his experience on the ranch as backdrops for many of his stories. Blending that experience with the new experiences of living among the four million in New York City, O. Henry wrote over three hundred short stories and gained worldwide recognition as the master of the art. His style often included an interesting twist or surprise at the end of the story.
His most famous story, "The Gift of the Magi", concerns a young couple who are short of money but desperately want to buy each other Christmas gifts. (Don’t read this next sentence if you haven’t read the story.) She sells her long hair to purchase a watch fob for him and he pawns off his watch to buy a set of combs for her hair.
His story “The Ransom of Red Chief” concerns a ten year old boy who is kidnapped by two men. (Same spoiler warning.) The boy is such a pest that the men end up paying the boy's father to take him back.
When asked where the name “O. Henry” came from, Porter told the story about when he first lived in Austin. He roomed in the home of the Joseph Harrell family and he often heard them calling to their family cat, "Oh, Henry.” When the time came to choose a pseudonym, O. Henry came to mind. When asked where he got his ideas, he once remarked, "There are stories in everything. I've got some of my best yarns from park benches, lampposts, and newspaper stands."
O. Henry died in 1910. In 1918, a group called the Twilight Club held a dinner at the Hotel McAlpin in New York City to honor O. Henry. Later that year, they establish an O. Henry memorial fund which would award prizes for the best short-story writers (sort of like Hollywood’s Oscars). The O. Henry award is now considered the most prestigious award for short stories.
For a good read...
ISBN: 978-0-7656-1821-4
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