O. Henry, the pseudonym of William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), is renowned for his short stories characterized by wit, wordplay, and a twist ending. Born in Greensboro, North Carolina, Porter led a life as colorful and unpredictable as his fiction. He worked in various occupations, from pharmacist to bank teller, before his imprisonment for embezzlement—an experience that in...