He edited and printed The Rolling Stone. In addition, he was a pharmacist, shepherd, draftsman, bank teller, actor, singer, and inmate. During his life, Will Porter was America’s best known writer of Western short stories. Today, most would remember him for a tender Christmas story of love, devotion, and sacrifice set in New York City.
He was born in Greensboro, North Carolina during the Civil War. His mother died when he was an infant and his father turned to alcohol. An aunt taught him in her school and an uncle trained him as a pharmacist. His passion was to draw and sketch cartons of the local citizens. Young Will loved to entertain and be at the center of attention.
It was feared the tuberculosis that killed his mother would threaten his health and he headed west to live with family friends in Texas. A succession of jobs followed from herding sheep, to working in a land office. Marriage and family made this the happiest time of this life. He began writing. He eventually found a job as a bank teller, but this was only to support his efforts to buy a newspaper in Austin, Texas. His young wife greatly encouraged his writing and he wrote for other newspapers as well.
The original name of his paper was the Iconoclast. It was more of an entertainment weekly than a newspaper. Porter changed the name to The Rolling Stone in 1894. In the paper, he satirized the local politicians, businesses and customs. He was not averse to making up false news stories that lampooned the Austin establishment.
He eventually left the job at the bank to devote full time to his paper. But unbalanced accounts at the bank lead to charges of embezzlement. Some of the charges involved matters that took place after he had left the bank and were clearly false. Never the less, he was forced to abandon the newspaper and his family and flee to Honduras.
His wife’s failing health and eventual death brought him back to America. He was tried and convicted on federal charges and sent to prison in Ohio. The five years in prison were very productive years for the writer. Writing under a pseudonym, to cover his past, he continued to send short stories to newspapers for publication.
When he was released from prison, he was America’s most famous short story writer. Success led him to New York. He thrived on the fame and money and became a fixture on the social scene, all the time trying to keep his past a secret. Eventually, he would have published over 380 short stories. His humor and taste for the ironic or surprise ending became his trademark.
Most of his work was considered regional. Drawing from his experience in Texas and New York, he wrote “Westerns” after the dime novel tradition and stories of life in the city. The famous Christmas story, in particular, captured the hearts of thousands of readers and it was no doubt based on his own life.
His late wife had encouraged him to write. No doubt he loved her very much. So much in fact, he returned from exile to face prison, just to be with her one last time. His short story characters also loved each other to the point of great sacrifice. The husband and wife of modest means sacrificed for the other’s happiness. He sold his watch to buy his beautiful wife a comb for her hair and she cut and sold her long hair to buy her devoted husband a watch chain.
The Gift of the Magi was Porter’s most famous work. It has become a Christmas classic. Most people would know William Sydney Porter not by his real name, but by the adopted name he used in prison. A name he used to hide his real identity from his readers. It was a name taken from the calling of the family cat, Henry. O’Henry.”
O’Henry, the writer, was like his stories, full of irony. An Easterner, who popularized the West he loved in short stories, yet made his final home in New York City. An accused thief who wrote the most famous story of sacrifice and giving. He feared the disease that killed his mother and died from the alcohol that killed his father. O’Henry, America’s most successful and famous short story writer died in New York in 1910, from alcohol abuse, with only thirty cents in his pocket. He is buried in Asheville, North Carolina.
“The magi, as you know, were wise men--wonderfully wise men--who brought gifts to the Babe in the manger. … And here I have lamely related to you the uneventful chronicle of two foolish children in a flat who most unwisely sacrificed for each other the greatest treasures of their house. But in a last word to the wise of these days let it be said that of all who give gifts these two were the wisest. Of all who give and receive gifts, such as they are wisest. Everywhere they are wisest. They are the magi.” “The Gift of the Magi” by O’Henry
Copyright © 2000 by Frank Granger
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