The Third Author
How His Life Was
On June 24, 1842 in Meigs County, Ohio, Ambrose Gwinnet Bierce was born. He was the youngest of 13 children, all having been given names beginning with "A". His family lived in a log cabin, and, at the age of 17, he left his family there to become a "devil's printer" (or, writer for an abolitionist newspaper).
Bierce came from a family history of military involvement, and so when the Civil War began in 1860, he immediately joined the Indiana 9th Volunteers. In 1864, though, he received a serious head injury and was unable to continue his service. During his time in the military, his long-time sweetheart also broke off their engagement. Many believe that this period of time greatly contributed to his famous cynicism.
After the army, he decided that he wanted a life of journalism, and got a regular job as the "Town Crier" for San Francisco's News Letters. His cynicism, wit, and skill quickly gained him notoriety, and he courted and married a local socialite, Mary Ellen Day.
As a wedding gift, the couple moved to England for a good deal of time where Bierce continued his journalism career. While they were there, his two sons (Day and Leigh) in 1872 and 1874. He also began writing his first books.
The family moved back to San Francisco in 1875, and shortly after, his daughter, Molly, was born. He became the editor of a newspaper and continued writing "Prattle" columns for both it and another paper.
In 1888, Bierce separated from his wife after his found "improper" letters to her from an admirer. Then in 1809, his oldest son, Day, was killed during an argument over a woman. Bierce then began to write more books, as well as articles for a political newspaper that was strongly against the railroad companies of the time. Unfortunately, in 1901, his second son, Leigh, died of pneumonia related to alcoholism. His now estranged wife filed for divorce in 1904 due to "abandonment", but she died the next year before the divorce was finalized.
Bierce's death, to this day, remains a mystery, although it is generally thought to have occurred around 1914. He apparently arranged all of his affairs as though he were going on an extended trip or even for a "permanent trip", we'll say. Then, his daughter received a vague letter from him from Mexico, and he was never seen or heard from again. There are many theories surrounding his disappearance, ranging from having committed suicide shortly after the letter was sent to being killed by hostile forces in Mexico to becoming an unnamed "old Gringo adviser" to the Mexican rebels to even having checked himself into an asylum. An official search petitioned by his daughter never yielded any results, though, and so we cannot verify any of these claims.
How His Life Could Have Been Today
I would say "Let's start from the beginning", but honestly, his beginning years seem like they would have gone very similarly had he been born in modern times. He was born to a large family, and I know plenty of families who have 13 children or even more. The only thing that I can think of is that, when he went to write for the abolitionist paper, he probably wouldn't have been said to be working for the "Devil's Printer". Also, it wouldn't have been about abolition, as we don't have slavery in modern day America. It more likely would have been about the Iraq war. Which is probably also where his military career would have taken him, if not to Afghanistan. That being said, though... Unless he was in a currently hostile zone (not all of the zones that our troops are deployed to are currently hostile, and I know troops who finished their tours and did not see combat at all), he would not have seen firsthand the types of carnage that his famous cynicism is attributed to. That may take away the inspiration for some of his writings. At the same time, maybe he was just a naturally cynical person.
Once he was deployed from the army, he began journalism. He may have received more fame for his writings, as information and media are more accessible today. I kind of imagine him as being like Lewis Black.
As for the situation with his wife, it is common place today for women to receive letters from admirers. Now, though, we don't base the woman's faithfulness on whether or not somebody else sent her a letter. It depends more on how she handled the situation and if she replied. So his marriage may have been salvaged.
I don't know the details of the fight over the woman that led to his first son's death. I would like to say that it would not have happened in today's age, but that kind of thing does still happen. I can only say that maybe the circumstances surrounding the event would not have been as big of a deal today, and so maybe the fight would not have escalated to where it did.
His second son's death, though, could have easily been prevented. I keep touching on the wonders of modern medicine in my blogs because it's just that - wonderful. Not only do we have countless programs to help people deal with their alcoholism, but we also have the medical care necessary to help someone combat pneumonia that might have arisen from it. If he didn't recover, I'm sure it still would've eventually killed him, but I think that he would've had more of a chance if he had lived today.
Finally, let's look at Bierce's "death". With all of our technological advances, it's nearly impossible for someone of note to just decide to disappear one day. It happens, sure, but we can still usually trace up to nearly the exact moment when they actually went missing (right when they were kidnapped, killed, made it to the plastic surgeon to change their face, etc). So I feel as though we probably wouldn't have as much mystery surrounding his death. Especially because he had gained national notoriety. If Ellen DeGeneres tried to go missing, how long would it take us to find her? Not long, I'd imagine.
