The Old Gringo | Ambrose Bierce

Part of the story of the old gringo—his death— is based on the fate of William Benton, a British citizen who was beaten to death by Pancho Villa’s men, and whose body was later dug up, formally executed, and sent home. The rest of the gringo’s story is based on what is known about the last days of the writer Ambrose Bierce. Most of the details given about the character in the book fit with the facts of Bierce’s life: he was a satirist, short-story writer, and journalist, who lived in San Francisco for much of his life and wrote for the newspaper chain owned by William Randolph...

[The entire page is 370 words long]

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