William Sidney Porter, who wrote under the pen name O. Henry, was born in 1862 in Greensboro, North Carolina. He had a daughter with his wife Athol who died of tuberculosis in 1897. Porter worked as a bank teller but was convicted of embezzlement in 1898 and served three years in prison. He supported himself through short story writing, publishing over 600 stories in his lifetime. Some of his most famous stories include The Gift of the Magi and The Ransom of Red Chief, known for their surprise endings and depictions of ordinary people. O. Henry died in 1910 but his stories continued to be popular collections after his death.

1. O HENRY

2. HENRY’S LIFE
 William Sidney Porter (American) was born on
September 11, 1862, in Greensboro, North
Carolina.His parents were Dr. Algernon Sidney
Porter (1825–88), a physician, and Mary Jane
Virginia Swaim Porter (1833–65). William's parents
had married on April 20, 1858. When William was
three, his mother died from tuberculosis.
 On Jully 1 1887 Henry & Anthol were married Athol
gave birth to a son in 1888, who died hours after
birth, and then a daughter, Margaret Worth Porter,
in September 1889.
 Athol Estes Porter died from tuberculosis (then
known as consumption) on July 25, 1897.

3.  In 1894, he was accused by the bank
of embezzlement and lost his job but was not
indicted. Porter had little to say in his own defense,
and was found guilty of embezzlement in February
1898, sentenced to five years in prison, and
imprisoned on March 25, 1898. Porter was
released on July 24, 1901 for good behavior after
serving three years.
 Porter was a heavy drinker, and his health
deteriorated markedly in 1908, which affected his
writing & and he died on June 5.

4. HENRY AS A WRITER
 O Henry's stories frequently have surprise endings.
 O. Henry stories were considerably more playful.
His stories are also known for witty narration.
 Most of O. Henry's stories are set in his own time,
the early 20th century.The most part of his story
deals with ordinary people: clerks, policemen,
waitresses, etc.
 Cabbages and Kings was his first collection of
stories, followed by The Four Million & His final
work was "Dream", a short story intended for the
magazine The Cosmopolitan but left incomplete at
the time of his death.

5.  Writing prodigiously under the pen name O. Henry,
he completed one story a week for a newspaper, in
addition to other stories for magazines. Popular
collections of his stories included The Four
Million (1906); Heart of the Westand The Trimmed
Lamp (both 1907); The Gentle Grafter and The
Voice of the City (both 1908); Options (1909);
and Whirligigs and Strictly Business(both 1910).

6. O HENRY’ SHORT STORIES
 The Gift of the Magi
 The Ransom of Red Chief
 After 20 years
 The Cop and the Anthem
 A Retrieved Reformation
 A Service of Love
 The Furnished Room
 The Green door
 Between Rounds
 From the Cabby’s Seat
 Man About Town

7. TITLES IN POEM CATEGORY
 Chanson De Boheme
 Drop a Tear in This Slot
 Hard To Forget
 Murderer, The
 Tamales
 The Lullaby Boy
 The Old Farm
 The Pewee
 Two Portraits
 Vanity

10. WHAT MAKES O'HENRY A GREAT STORY TELLER?
O Henry is one of the born story-tellers of the world. He
wrote so naturally and without much difficulty as if it
was but to breathe to him. He is a master of tragedy,
romance and extravaganza, of tales of mystery or of
common life/common people, with especial skill in
surprise ending. In fact, when one talks about surprise
ending, O'Henry rests on the top of the list. What
makes him great in my opinion can be listed as such:
*the variety and colourfulness of his characters and the
places. *unexpected ending. *tamed, elegant and
unexaggerated humour. Even after O. Henry's death on
June 5, 1910, stories continued to be collected: Sixes
and Sevens (1911); Rolling Stones (1912); Waifs and
Strays(1917); O. Henryana (1920); Letters to
Lithopolis (1922); Postscripts (1923); and O. Henry
Encore (1939).

11. HENRY ‘S LAST MESSAGE TO HIS READERS
All my stories are related to experiences that
come across my travel. All my characters feel
ordinary rather special. There is always a final
twist in my stories. Don’t think about your own
life , but think about the experiences you meet
with others. What I now said and my stories will
live long even after my death. I want you all to
read my stories and through my readers I will
live generations after generations……………….

12. THANK YOU & HAVE A NICE DAY