The Ransom of Red chief (Broché)

Biographie d'O Henry

William Sydney Porter (O. Henry) was born in North Carolina, USA, in 1862. When he was twenty, he went to Texas where he worked in different offices and then in a bank. In 188, he married a young woman called Athol Estes. He and Athol were very happy together, and at this time he began writing short stories. His most famous story is The Gift of the Magi, and many people think that Della in this story is based on his wife Athol.
You can rend this story in New Yorkers- Short Stories (Oxford Bookworms Stage 2); here it is called The Christmas Presents. In 1896 Porter ran away to Honduras because people said he stole money from the bank when he was working there in 1894. A year later he came back to Texas to see Athol, who was dying, and in 1898 he was sent to prison. During his time there he published many short stories, using the name " O.
henry ", and when he left prison in 1901, he was already a famous writer. He then lived in New York until his death in 1910.