From the Texas Heritage Foundation went the touching plea to the President of the U.S.: Would he, in the name of Christian charity, posthumously pardon that gifted storyteller O. Henry,* convicted in 1898 of embezzling $854.08 from an Austin bank? At the same time the wire went to President Eisenhower from Major General (ret.) Paul Wakefield, the foundation’s president, word of his appeal was scattered to newspapers, radio and television stations the country over.
The response would have warmed O. Henry’s heart. Newspapers all over the U.S. leaped at the bait; feature writers and editorialists wallowed in reminiscence of and sentiment for O. Henry. From a White House lawyer came a letter formally expressing President Eisenhower’s “regret” that he was powerless to reverse the 60-year-old jury decree. Thereupon Texas’ Democratic Representative Homer Thornberry announced that he was studying the possibility of asking for quick action by Congress. Intoned the Chicago Sun-Times: “A grateful and appreciative American public pardoned O. Henry many, many years ago.”
Last week the story of the pardon played out in the kind of twist with which Story Spinner O. Henry liked to end his own tales. Jack McKenzie, account executive for the Cain Organization, a Dallas public relations outfit, let it be known that he had whipped up the whole furor as a plug for a client’s television show. The Gift of the Magi, a musical version of the sentimental, enduring O. Henry Christmas story. Said successful Pressagent McKenzie: “Greatest thing I ever saw.”
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