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Finn, Ralph L

(1912-1999) UK author and journalist who published widely, collecting some of his short fiction as Collected Stories of Ralph L Finn (coll 1946 chap); in his notes on "This Sorry Scheme" (magazine publication undated), George Locke suggests that the tale prefigures Jack Finney's far more complex Time and Again (1970). Of some sf interest are three novels based on the time theories of J W Dunne: The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet (1948), Twenty-Seven Stairs (1949) and Time Marches Sideways (1950), the latter a love story set in London. Freaks against Supermen (1950) and Captive on the Flying Saucers (1951), both conventional sf stories, gain some interest from their mild erotic content. [JC]

see also: Ralph Straus; Time Travel.

Ralph Leslie Finn

born London: 17 January 1912

died [registered] Hillingdon, London: November 1999

works

• Out of the Depths (London: Royal Air Force Benevolent Fund, 1941) [coll: pb/]
  • Out of the Depths: A Collection of Short Stories, Most of Which Were Conceived in a Shelter During the Time of the Air Raids on London (London: Fleetway Press, 1943) [coll: vt of the above: pb/]
• Collected Stories of Ralph L Finn (Birmingham, England: Stag Books, 1946) [coll: chap: pb/]
• The Lunatic, the Lover, and the Poet (London: Hutchinson, 1948) [hb/]
• Twenty-Seven Stairs (London: Hutchinson, 1949) [hb/]
• Time Marches Sideways (London: Hutchinson, 1950) [hb/]
• Freaks against Supermen (London: Gaywood, 1950) [pb/Leroi Osborne]
• Captive on the Flying Saucers (London: Gaywood, 1951) [pb/Leroi Osborne]

links

• Internet Speculative Fiction Database
• Picture Gallery

Entry from The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (2011-current) edited by John Clute and David Langford.
Accessed 11:53 am on 12 March 2026.
<https://sf-encyclopedia.com/entry/finn_ralph_l>