by Paula Gail Benson
Sometimes life issues make writing difficult. Whether the situation involves health, loss, or disillusionment, it can take a physical toll that affects the desire and initiative to create.
Lately, I’ve
been going through a time of working through a number of difficult situations.
I heard that a former principal used to tell his teachers not to consider
challenges as problems, but as opportunities. I found a definition of
opportunity as “a set of circumstances that makes it possible to do something.”
However, when you are feeling defeated before you start, accomplishment seems
impossible.
William Sydney Porter
Wikipedia
As I considered
this dilemma, I remembered reading about the life of short story author O.
Henry, whose “The Gift of the Magi” and “The Ransom of Red Chief” are
considered classics of the form. Henry, born William Sidney Porter, later
changed the spelling of his middle name to Sydney. He struggled and faced
heartbreak, yet he produced at least 381 stories in his lifetime.
I reviewed the details of O. Henry’s life in Wikipedia to see what I could learn about his perseverance. He was born in North Carolina. His parents married just before the beginning of the United States’ Civil War. His mother passed away when he was three years old. He grew up in his paternal grandmother’s home with his father who was a doctor. By the time he was nineteen, he had qualified to become a pharmacist. He traveled to Texas, hoping to improve his health (he had a persistent cough).
The change in climate did help. In Texas, he became a popular bachelor and fell in love. Her family did not approve, so they eloped. They had a daughter. Eventually, he went to work for a bank. Unfortunately, he did not keep careful records and ultimately was accused of embezzling $854.08 (approximately $32,685.34 in 2025). As he was changing trains on the way to the courthouse, he became scared and ran away to Honduras, which had no extradition treaty with the United States. During his time there, he wrote the novel Cabbages and Kings and, in it, coined the phrase “banana republic.”
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| Poter as teller in First National Bank in Austin Wikipedia |
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| Porter family, wife Athol, daughter Margaret, and author Wikipedia |
Upon hearing
that his wife was ill, he returned to the United States. He was convicted and
his wife passed away while he was imprisoned. He served his sentence in Ohio
where, because of his expertise, he worked in the prison pharmacy. While he was
incarcerated, he wrote stories under the name O. Henry. To avoid being revealed
as an inmate, he sent the stories to a friend in New Orleans who forwarded them
to publishers.
He was released early for good behavior and reunited with his daughter. They moved to New York where he wrote one story a week for the New York World Sunday Magazine. He married his childhood sweetheart, who also had become a writer, but she left him after two years. He returned to his native North Carolina and died at the young age of forty-seven.
He is buried at Riverside Cemetery in Asheville. His daughter is buried beside him.
Visitors to his grave often leave $1.87, the amount of money his character Della had in savings at the beginning of “The Gift of the Magi.” Cemetery attendants have collected the funds and given them to local libraries.
O. Henry's Grave at Riverside Cemetery
From: Find a Grave
When I consider the hardships O. Henry faced—loss of mother, personal health issues, marrying against his in-law’s wishes, being accused of embezzlement, running away, returning to connect with his wife just before she died, being convicted and serving time in prison, using a pseudonym to avoid revealing he was an inmate, having a short second marriage, and dying early, probably from health-related issues—I am amazed at the collection of his work. The fact that he has touched and continues to influence lives with Della’s story in “The Gift of the Magi” is a tremendous legacy.
Have you ever had to write your way through sadness or hardship? How did you cope?
