Andrew McKim Radcliffe, 27, writer, teacher

Andrew McKim Radcliffe, a writer and teacher who formerly lived in Cambridge, died of a congenital heart defect Friday in Lafayette, Ind., while visiting a brother. He was 27.

Mr. Radcliffe, who was born and raised in Cambridge, was the great-grandson of former U.S. Sen. George L. Radcliffe, who represented Maryland from 1935 to 1947.

He was a 1993 graduate of South Dorchester High School and a member of its varsity tennis team. He earned his bachelor's degree from Princeton University in 1997, and a master's in English from Miami University in Oxford, Ohio.

At his death, Mr. Radcliffe was teaching English composition at Miami University and had just completed his first novel, Where There Is Water.

He was a communicant of St. Mary Refuge of Sinners Roman Catholic Church in Cambridge, where a Mass of Christian burial will be offered at 10 a.m. tomorrow.

Mr. Radcliffe is survived by his parents, Jacquelyn McCann and George M. Radcliffe Jr. of Cambridge; two brothers, Scott Radcliffe of Lafayette and Greg Radcliffe of Cambridge; paternal grandparents, Augusta and George M. Radcliffe Sr. of Cambridge; his maternal grandmother, Mary McCann of Virginia Beach, Va.; and several uncles and aunts.