FINN, FRANCIS. - Jesuit, American novelist, b. at St. Louis (United States) on 4 Oct. 1859, d. at Cincinnati on 2 Nov. 1928. After a brief period of teaching literature at St. Francis Xavier College in Cincinnati, from 1899 he devoted himself to spiritual ministries in the parish of the same name, especially directing the Marian Congregation.
He left twenty-two stories, which won the affection of young readers both in the United States and in
many other nations, through the direct art with which he portrayed their lives, made them masters of themselves, and led them to look upon the future as a conquest to be achieved by their own vigorous will, and through the religious spirit—serene, in no way exaggerated, yet ever vigilant and effective—that pervades them. Their editions and translations into almost all languages multiplied.
Here are some titles: Tom Playfair, New York-Cincinnati 1890; Percy Wynn, ibid. 1899; Harry Dee, ibid. 1891; By Thy Love and Thy Grace, ibid. 1891; Claude Lightfoot, ibid. 1892; Mostly boys, ibid. 1893; Ethelred Preston, ibid. 1896; That Football Game, ibid. 1897; The Fairy of the Snacks, ibid. 1913; The Cupid of Campion, ibid. 1916; Lucky Bob, ibid. 1917.