O. Henry O. Henry William Sydney Porter (September 11, 1862 – June 5, 1910), better known by his pen name O. Henry, was an American short story writer. His stories are known for their surprise endings. William Sidney Porter was born on September 11, 1862, in Greensboro, North Carolina. He changed the spelling of his middle name to Sydney in 1898. His parents were Dr. Algernon Sidney Porter (1825–88), a physician, and Mary Jane Virginia Swaim Porter (1833–65). William's parents had married on April 20, 1858. When William was three, his mother died after birthing her third child, and he and his
Mark Porter (writer) Mark Porter (writer) Mark Porter (born 16 December 1960) is a Walsall-born French-based travel writer and publisher. Porter is the author of "Coast to Coast Cycle Routes" (), a guide book to three of Britain's most popular cycle routes, all of which travel through the Lake District and Northern England, now in its 16th edition. He also wrote "Grand Tour", a guide to Paris, Rome, London, Edinburgh, Dublin and Cardiff for followers of the Six Nations rugby championships (), and "Tartan Army Tour Guide to Europe" () for Scottish football fans. A former features editor of the "Sunday Express" after