O. Henry Biography Page: 17
ix, 258 p., [10] leaves of plates : ill., front. (port.) ; 24 cm.View a full description of this book.
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ANCESTRY
But fame had come and with it came a vein of ancestral
reminiscence and a return in imagination to the days of
childhood. His marriage, in 1907, to the sweetheart and
the only sweetheart of the Greensboro years, his visits to
Mrs. Porter's home in Asheville, and his affectionate al-
lusions to his father and mother show plainly a tend-
ency to relax the cordon about him and to re-knit the
ties and associations of youth. O. Henry was becom-
ing Will Porter again. Even the great American novel,
of which Professor Phelps speaks, was to be in the
nature of an autobiography. "Let Me Feel Your
Pulse," the last complete story that he wrote, was also
the most autobiographical. "It was written," says
Dr. Pinkney Herbert, of Asheville, "with the aid of
my medical books. Sometimes he would take them to
his office and again he would sit in my outer office."
It was heralded by the magazine announcement, "If
you want to get well, read this story." But O. Henry
was dead before the story was published. In it he speaks
of his ancestors who blended the blood of North and South:
"It's the hemoglobin test," he [the doctor] explained. "The
color of your blood is wrong." "Well," said I, "I know it should
be blue; but this is a country of mix-ups. Some of my ancestors
were cavaliers; but they got thick with some people on Nantucket
Island, so-"
His forebears were again in his mind when, wrenched
with pain but not bowed, he went to the hospital
17
I--~a I
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Smith, C. Alphonso (Charles Alphonso), 1864-1924. O. Henry Biography, book, 1916; Garden City, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth139384/m1/31/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Austin History Center, Austin Public Library.