O. Henry was a pen name used by an American writer of short stories. His real name wasWilliam Sydney Porter. He was born in North Carolina in 1862. As a young boy he lived an
exciting life. He did not go to school for very long, but he managed to teach himself every
thing he needed to know. When he was about 20 years old, O. Henry went to Texas, where
he tried different jobs. He first worked on a newspaper, and then had a job in a bank, when
some money went missing from the bank. O. Henry was believed to have stolen it. Because
of that, he was sent to prison. During the three years in prison, he learned to write short
stories. After he got out of prison, he went to New York and continued writing. He wrote
mostly about New York and the life of the poor there. People liked his stories, because
simple as the tales were, they would finish with a sudden change at the end, to the
reader"s surprise.