O. Henry's Biography

Levin Daily Chronicle, 13 February 1917, Page 1

O. Henry's Biography

(New York Times.) The appearance of Professor C. A 1 phonso Smith's Jong-expected biography of 'William Sydney Porter, an extended notice of which appears in to day's issue of the New York Times Sunday Magazine is not without i sensational feature. The world at large has known little if anything oi the private life of this master of tht short story whose very identity waf hidden, while he lived, under a pes name that has since become famous in Elurope as well as America—O. Henry, During the last year of his all toe brief career he lived in New York, anc here he was known casually to a few, intimately to none. This obscurity in which he passed l his life was " deliberately chosen; it was not due tc the indifference o!f those who would naturally be attracted, one might suppose, by the personality of a man whose creative faculty had touched so high r level in the literature of his period The work of few writers has received such instant recognition as. that accorded' O. Henry's ventures in fiction The literary fame was accompanied bj the usual desire on the part of admirers and those working ,in the same profession to "know the author." .Bid in this his well-meaning contemporaries were baulked by an aloofness, ai; exaggerated reticence that at first appeared to be merely an eccentricity oi genius but was recognised later as being thie to the existence of a mystery enveloping O. Henry's career prioi to his arrival an New York. In spite of the unusually wide knowledge ol life shown in his stories, he proved to be practically unapproachable socially. Inevitaibly the mystery, whatever it is, gave rise to' innumerable guesses and theories. To a few some inkling- of the truth gradually becamc known; but these kept their secret; and it is not until now, years after O. Henry's death that the facts in the ! case are given to the public. This is done in Professor Smith's biography of O. Henry, just published 'by Doubleelay, Page and Co. The story told at length for the first time by Professor Smith is one involving much that is tragic, much that is not without pathos—a story that is perhaps, more deeply scored with the dark, dramatic ways of humanity than one will find even in the best of this author's tales. Eighteen years ago, it appears. Mr Porter was sentenced to live years' imprisonment in the State Penitentiary at Columibus, Ohio, for embezzlement. After serving his sentence, which was reduced from five to three years and 1 three months, he commenced a new career under a new name in which he speedily achieved a success tli at v has come to few of the world's tellers of short stories. 'His biographer place before the reader the complete details of the dai-b chapters in O. Henry's life. In doing so he writes as a believer in O. Henry's innocence. He considers that O. Henry became the victim of a mistake and was really punished as a result of the criminal negligence wiitli which jtlife bank enploying him as a clerk was conducted. His plea along this line in defense of O. Henry will be iread, naturally, with eager interest by tlie hitter's countless "friends "and admirers. By some, .'mdoubtedly', the question will be raised as to the propriety of giving publicity at this late day to so fateful an occurrence in O. 'Henry's career. It is a question that touches one of those curious problems in the writing, of biographies in regard to which there is excellent opportunity for conflicting opinions. When a man's literary work is great enough to achieve a universal appeal, it is inevitable that his life will be> regarded as having an interpretive bearing on what he has written. O. Henry's genius is unquestionably of the calibre that places its possessor within the legitimate range of the biographer. Th; study of his art is aided by a knowledge of his life. But a biography omitting an account of so vital a factor in his intellectual development as the poignant experience in Ohio proved to be would furnish a misleading new of a suibject of rare human as well is literary interest.