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Advertising art director for newspaper dies at 36 By CRAIG BASSE © St. Petersburg Times, published July 14, 1998 T. PETERSBURG -- Gray McGhee, 36, advertising art director for the St. Petersburg Times, died Monday (July 13, 1998) at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute, Tampa. Gray McGhee The cause was complications from treatment for leukemia, said Ron Reason, his partner, a faculty member of the Poynter Institute for Media Studies. The disease was diagnosed about May 20. As the paper's advertising art director for the past two years, Mr. McGhee managed about 25 staff artists who produced advertising material for the main editions and regional editions of the Times. A full-time staffer since 1987, he was promoted in 1993 to Artist II/Graphics Systems Specialist in recognition of his work in advancing the art department's use of computers. He was a summer intern in corporate art at the Times in 1985 after working as art director and production specialist at Tampa General Hospital. Born at Westover Air Force Base in Massachusetts, Mr. McGhee grew up in North Carolina. After graduating from T.W. Andrews High School in High Point, N.C., he studied for a year at the University of North Carolina. He was a graduate of the Ringling School of Art and Design in Sarasota. Survivors include his mother, June McGhee, High Point; his father, Jim, Thomasville, N.C.; and two brothers, Russell and Christopher, both of North Carolina. Funeral arrangements were not complete Monday. Further information will be made available through the web site http://www.ronreason.com/gray.html. Business | Citrus | Commentary | Entertainment Hernando | Floridian | Obituaries | Pasco | Sports State | Tampa Bay | World & Nation © Copyright 1998 St. Petersburg Times. All rights reserved.