Andrew Meacham is the chief Epilogue writer for the Tampa Bay Times, writing obituaries about people from all walks of life. His subjects can be rich or poor, with lengthy or plain resumes. The premise behind the Epilogue is everyone has a story.

Andrew was born in Pittsburgh, Pa., and has lived in St. Petersburg since 1959. He enjoys singing and acting, and has performed with the Tampa Bay Master Chorale and local theater.

Andrew graduated from Eckerd College as a humanities major, then worked construction jobs for eight years, from laborer to laying out large commercial projects. He spent six years as an associate editor at Health Communications, a self-help book publisher in Deerfield Beach, Fla.; and is the author of Selling Serenity — Life Among the Recovery Stars (Upton Books, 1999).

He later earned a master's degree in journalism from the University of South Florida St. Petersburg. Andrew has been on its staff since 2005. Two of his stories — on the "sexting"-related suicide of a 13-year-old girl and a dishwasher's hit-and-run death — each won awards from the Society of Professional Obituary Writers, which covers North America. The society in 2010 also awarded him for best body of work in obituaries longer than 800 words.

Phone: (727) 892-2248

E-mail: ameacham@tampabay.com