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) a colourful 'career' in Fleet St, Porter is a freelance contributor to Newsweek, Standpoint Magazine, Daily Mail, The Guardian, The Herald (Glasgow), Cycle Magazine He is also a food writer (ten years as a contributing editor of "Waitrose Food Illustrated") and has been a restaurant inspector for the Good Food Guide since 2011. He also runs several cycling websites. Porter spends his time between Scotland and France and has set up VeriTable, a new French restaurant site designed to select the good from the bad in a nation whose culinary standing is increasingly questioned. Mark Porter (writer) Mark Porter (born