O. Henry

• O. Henry is just a pen name, O. Henry's real name is William Sydney Porter.
• O. Henry is best known for his ironic plot twists and surprise endings.
• He was not always a writer. He was a clerk and bank teller, and than around his mid 30's he became a writer. 
• He was being accused of embezzling funds from the bank he used to work at, so he ran away to Honduras. Although he ended up coming back when he learned his wife was ill, and after she died he turned himself in.
• He only served 3 of the 5 year sentence in jail, and that is where he began writing his short stories. 
• After O. Henry was out of jail he started writing full time in New York City. 
• During the last ten years of his life, O. Henry became one of the most popular writers in America, publishing over 500 short stories in dozens of widely read periodicals. 
• Some of his most famous stories were "The Gift of the Magi", "The Furnished Room", and "The Ransom of Red Chief". 
• His style of storytelling became a model not only for short fiction, but also for American motion pictures and television programs.
• Writing at the rate of more than one story per week, O. Henry published ten collections of stories during a career that barely spanned a decade.

Information From: Microsoft Student with Encarta.