Print-Friendly Version



WRITER HERO:
O. HENRY

by Michail from Smorgon

My hero is O. Henry. Why? There are several reasons, which I will explain in my essay. O. Henry was born on the 11th of September in 1862. His real name is William Sidney Porter. He spent his childhood in the small town of Greensboro. His father was a doctor. He was a clever and kind man. Sometime later, he gave up medicine to become a mechanic. William and his brother grew up with their aunt (his mother died when William was three). When school was over, William took up his uncle’s offer and worked as a helper in a drugstore.

In 1887 William married. His wife’s name was Atoll. Their first child, a boy, died soon after birth. His daughter, Margaret, was born in 1889. After giving birth, Atoll was ill for a long time. She died and left William with a small daughter. Atoll’s parents helped him to raise his daughter. Hardly able to make both ends meet, William always tried to please his daughter. In his self-sacrifice I can feel the writer’s heroism.

In 1907 William married for the second time. His second wife and his daughter, Margaret, were friends. Everything seemed to be alright, but the writer was not in good health. He could no longer work with the same drive. In the summer of 1910 he died.

I admire O. Henry’s literary work. His creativity lasted for eight years and, in that short time, he wrote nearly 400 stories and a novel. O. Henry’s skill is very unusual. Every one of O. Henry’s stories contains some enigmas and you can never figure them out. The writer always surprises me with his perfectly unexpected endings. When I read O. Henry’s stories, my mood improves because every story is full of humor. O. Henry’s humor is noble because, at the root of the writer’s humor, there is a belief in man, love for mankind, and hatred toward everything that destroys life and people. O. Henry’s creativity is very important because his stories teach us goodness and humility, and compel us to think about life and make us better people.





Written by Michail from Smorgon
This story has been submitted by a guest user and does not necessarily represent the views of The My Hero Project or its staff.



RELATED LINKS

O Henry a short biography of this great writer ohioreadingroadtrip.org


 


More Featured Writer Heroes

Alexander Pushkin is one of Russia's greatest writers.Alexander Solzhenitsyn was a Russian novelist and dissident who won the Nobel Prize for Literature.Amy Tan is a novelist and advocate of Lyme disease research.Anne Frank :
'When I write, I
can shake off
all my cares.'
Anne Lamott is an acclaimed novelist whose work mirrors life.Ariel Durant was a writer, scholar and philosopher.Bruce Coville first wanted to become a writer when he was in the sixth grade.Carl Sandburg  wrote poems, stories and nonfiction about Americans and American life.
Christine Quintasket was the first published Native American woman author.Daniel Pearl was a Wall Street Journal reporter who reported the news with courage, integrity, and intelligence. Deborah Ellis donates royalties from her books to organizations helping women and children in Afghanistan.Dith Pran let the world know of the genocide in Cambodia through his work as a reporter.
Dr. Seuss was an artist who also wrote charming, absurd rhymes.Elizabeth Jane Cochrane
(Nellie Bly)
 was a journalist who went around the world in 72 days.
Frances Ellen Watkins was a prolific author and poet who devoted her life to speaking out against slavery. Gabriel Garcia Marquez received the Nobel Prize in Literature for his novels and short stories.
H.G. Wells wrote science fiction novels that made people interested in science and space.Harriet Beecher Stowe wrote Uncle Tom's Cabin to expose the injustice and inhumanity of slavery.Helen Adams Keller wrote about her own life and education.Henry David Thoreau was
a naturalist, social philosopher and writer.
Henryk Sienkiewicz was a Polish writer who is revered for his epic novels.J.K. Rowling is the author of the Harry Potter books.J.R.R. Tolkien 
created a complete
fictional world in
The Lord of the Rings.
James Baldwin was
a famed novelist
and essayist.
James Herriot inspired Sarah Cowan to become a veterinarian.James Joyce was an Irish writer famous for his epic, Ulysses.Jane Austen in her short life wrote several classic novels. Joanne Kathleen Rowling is the writer of the Harry Potter books and has inspired children around the world to read.
Jorge Luis Borges : his fiction imagines alternative realities.Josephine Ruffin served as the editor and publisher of the first newspaper published by and for African-American women.Judy Blume : her novels depict life's problems with insight and gentle humor.Jules Verne predicted the future of science.
Ken Saro Wiwa was a Nigerian writer, environmentalist and human rights activist.Langston Hughes was nicknamed the Poet Laureate of Harlem.Laura Ingalls Wilder offered young readers a glimpse of American life in the 1800s.Leo Buscaglia wrote many inspirational books about his work
in counseling.
Louisa May Alcott wrote Little Women, Little Men, Jo's Boys, and many others.Madeleine L'Engle , the award-winning author of A Wrinkle in Time inspired young people with her books.Mark Twain was a prolific author and beloved American humorist.Maya Angelou is a beloved female author and poet.
Michael Crichton is the father of the 'techno thriller.'Naguib Mahfouz was the first Arab to receive the Nobel Prize in Literature.Nawal El Saadawi continued writing while in prison, her words could not be silenced.Nikki Tate writes books for kids who like horses.
O. Henry stories are filled with humor and compassion.Oriana Fallaci was an important Italian journalist.Pearl S. Buck was a Nobel and Pulitzer Prize-winning writer founded the first international, inter-racial adoption agency.Plato 's writings have influenced Western thought for almost 2500 years.
Pramoedya Ananta Toer wrote his Buru trilogy inside the walls of an Indonesian prison.Ray Bradbury reaches out across time and space to touch readers. Robert Penn Warren was the first Poet Laureate of the United States.Sequoyah invented the Cherokee alphabet, which enabled Cherokees to record their history.
Stephen King is one of the best known horror writersStuds Terkel 
The author who captured the stories of everyday people celebrates his 95th birthday.
Terry Goodkind is the author of the Sword of Truth Series.Vaclav Havel despite censorship, wrote plays that helped keep the hope of freedom alive....
  
Willa Cather 
was Pulitzer Prize-winning author and a pioneer in the women's rights movement.
William Shakespeare wrote plays & poetry that continue to have a lasting effect on readers all over the world.  

 

Last changed on:1/31/2005