Biography

He had 12 brothers and sisters, and their rather eccentric father had given them all names that started with the letter "A". In order of birth, the Bierce siblings were: Abigail, Amelia, Ann, Addison, Aurelius, Augustus, Almeda, Andrew, Albert, Ambrose, Arthur, Adelia and Aurelia.

He was shot in the head by a Confederate sniper in the summer of 1864 at the Battle of Kennesaw Mt. in northwest Georgia.

Thought to have died somewhere in Mexico. Many believe that he was killed while an observer in a battle between the forces of Mexican rebel Pancho Villa and federal troops. The body was never found.

Was estranged from his wife after finding letters from a supposed lover. They were divorced a year before she died.

Exact date and place of death never determined.

[From his 1906 "Cynic's Word Book," later retitled "The Devil's Dictionary"] Love, n. A temporary insanity curable by marriage or by removal of the patient from the influences under which he incurred the disorder.

[From his 1906 "Cynic's Word Book," later retitled "The Devil's Dictionary"] Bore, n. A person who talks when you wish him to listen.

[From his 1906 "Cynic's Word Book," later retitled "The Devil's Dictionary"] Lawsuit, n. a machine which you go into as a pig and come out as a sausage."

[From his 1906 "Cynic's Word Book," later retitled "The Devil's Dictionary"] Painting, n. The art of protecting flat surfaces from the weather and exposing them to the critic.

[Last words of his final written communication, a letter to his niece, Lora, in December 1913] Goodbye, if you hear of my being stood up against a Mexican stone wall and shot to rags please know that I think that a pretty good way to depart this life. It beats old age, disease, or falling down the cellar stairs. To be a Gringo in Mexico -- ah, that is euthanasia!