'There's only one rule'

 

“Writewhat you like; there is no other rule.” – O. Henry

William Henry Porter – known by thepen name O. Henry – is perhaps America’s greatest short story writer.   His works set a standard for generations ofwriters and today the O. Henry Award is a prestigious annual prize given foroutstanding stories in the genre'.

 

Born in North Carolina on this datein 1862, O. Henry grew up in Texas.  Working as a banker in Houston in 1895, he was accused of embezzlement andin a panic fled the country.

 

While the charges were never proven,he lived for a time in South America where he began writing short stories and coinedthe term “Banana Republic,” first used in his story “Cabbages and Kings.”  Drawn back to America when his wife developeda fatal illness, he was arrested and sentenced to 5 years in prison.  While there he wrote many successful stories,publishing under various names to hide his identity.  One of those names was O. Henry.

 

After being released early for goodbehavior, he wrote steadily and had dozens of best-selling stories and storycollections published, establishing himself as one of America’s most well-knownand beloved writers. 

 

Among his most famous stories, stillpopular today, are The Gift of the Magi;The Last Leaf; The Ransom of Red Chief (where a kidnap victim is sohorrible that the kidnappers end up paying his family to take him back); and Caballero’s Way (introducing the worldto The Cisco Kid).

 

O. Henry died from liver disease at age 47but on his death bed said he loved every minute of his life and being a writer.  “When one loves one's art,” he said, “noservice seems too hard.”

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