O. Henry, born William Sydney Porter, was an extraordinary short story writer from Greensboro. Born here in 1862, he lived, was educated, attended church, and worked in Guilford County. As a child, he spent a great deal of time reading and when he was older, he worked at a local drug store on Elm Street. At age 20, with his mother long deceased and his health poor, William Sydney Porter moved to Texas hoping to find a climate more agreeable to his chronic cough. In 1899, having authored under many pseudonyms, he settled on O. Henry.
Locally, O. Henry comes to life once a year when the Greensboro Historical Museum presents several evenings of his plays in an event called 5 by O. Henry. The evening is quite an event as an actor plays the role of O. Henry, ambling through the audience with other characters in period costumes and leading the audience in songs from O. Henry's era. The above statue of O. Henry (as a young boy) is found on the grounds of the Historical Museum, the very place where you can find many exhibits relevant to the life of Greensboro's best-known author, including an exhibit replicating his aunt's elementary school which he attended (teachers' pamphlet here).
In his mere 48 years on earth, O. Henry wrote prolifically. In the New York years alone, he wrote 381 short stories (reference). On GDP, we have already featured the O. Henry open book monument (here); his historic marker (here); the cemetery where his family is buried (here); the drug store where he worked (here); and the hotel named for him (here).
It is ABC Wednesday and for Round 9, we're featuring great people of Greensboro, past and present. Today it is O....... for O. Henry.
On page C1 of the News and Record today, we are reminded that Oh Henry! is a popular candy bar that was introduced in 1920 and is still being made today.
Reference/homage to the writer is possible but not confirmed :
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oh_Henry!
Posted by: Janis | Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 06:42 AM
O Henry's from there? I did not know that!
ROG, ABC Wednesday team
Posted by: Roger Green | Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 07:06 AM
Yes, ROG! O. Henry is from here......... Greensboro, North Carolina! While his last name is actually "Henry" who mentions the author without saying the "O" first?
Posted by: Janis | Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 07:16 AM
Oh, original thinking for your post. You brought back memories. As a child, I was fascinated by O.Henry's short stories, like Ranson of Red Chief. It was opportune that I landed here to learn more about an author I admire. A standing ovation to you!
Posted by: Gel | Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 07:59 AM
While reading one of your links about O. Henry's choice of pen name, I learned that when queried, he replied "O stands for Olivier--that's French for Oliver." Apparently several of his stories appeared with Olivier Henry listed as author.
Also there was once a William Sydney Porter Elementary School here in Greensboro--wonder what happened to it?
Posted by: Jane Mitchell | Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 02:09 PM
Terrific and informative post.
Posted by: barb farr | Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 05:02 PM
I enjoyed reading this post. O. Henry used to also have a candy bar in this area when I was growing up.
Posted by: Abraham Lincoln | Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 06:07 PM
I've always enjoyed his work. Excellent post!
Posted by: Tumblewords | Wednesday, October 26, 2011 at 10:05 PM
My father was in laugh tears when reading "The Ransom of Red Chief". My personal fav. was "The last leaf".
Posted by: Irina | Friday, October 28, 2011 at 05:48 PM