Shirrel Rhoades

Shirrel Rhoades was honored by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication as Professional of the Year 2014. In 2012 Stetson University honored him as a Distinguished Alumnus. He has chaired the Consumer Marketing Committee of the Magazine Publishers of America and was a member of MPA's Finance Committee. He was nominated for the Direct Marketing Association Hall of Fame in 1997, as well as the Circulation Hall of Fame in 1998. He was inducted into FMA Hall of Fame in 2012; and is a member of the Circulation Survivors Hall of Fame.

In 2013 Rhoades, along with attorney Albert L. Kelley, founded Absolutely Amazing eBooks, a virtual publishing company that specializes in ebooks and POD paperbacks. In 2015 they also acquired New Pulp Press, an award-winning publishing house known for its crime fiction and noir mysteries.

During the early 2000s he served on a consulting basis as editorial director and fiction editor for The Saturday Evening Post.

In 1996, Rhoades became executive vice president of Marvel Entertainment, succeeding Stan Lee as publisher of Marvel Comics. He left Marvel three years later following the "Comic Wars." Joining Reader's Digest as vice president of New Business Development, he went on to launch a new book division for RDA.

In 1988, he purchased his own periodical, Opportunity Magazine. Later he would launch a sister publication, Income Plu$, both aimed at small business entrepreneurs. Through a separate company he published a number of newsletters, including Woman's Day Helpful Hints.

After an interim assignment with American Heritage, Rhoades joined Scholastic in 1983 to launch Family Computing magazine. As vice president and group publisher, he simultaneously oversaw Scholastic's Consumer and Professional Magazines divisions.

In 1976, Rhoades became associate publisher of Harper's Magazine during the editorship of Lewis Lapham. Three years later, he was recruited to Charter Publishing as vice president of consumer marketing for Ladies' Home Journal, Redbook, and Sport.

In 1973, he joined Open Court Publishing in Illinois to launch Cricket, a literary magazine for children. In charge of Open Court's Magazine Division, he launched a British edition called Cricket & Company and oversaw London-based Encounter Magazine.

In 1968, Rhoades became the executive editor of Etienne Dupuch Jr. Publications, the Nassau-based publisher of The Bahamas Handbook and other travel and educational titles. In 1972, he returned to the States to launch Directions (a travel magazine for the Great Smoky Mountains region) and created an annual book series and quarterly travel publication about the Cayman Islands.

After graduating in 1960, he attended Wake Forest University on the George Foster Hankins Scholarship, before transferring to Stetson University, where he received his BA in Fine Arts in 1964. He also holds graduate credits in children's literature from Chapman University.

In addition to his stint as a film critic for the Florida Times-Union in the 1960s, Shirrel Rhoades currently serves as the film critic for the Cooke Communications newspaper chain (Key West Citizen, The Daily Reflector, and the Rocky Mount Telegram, among others). His syndicated column is called Front Row at the Movies. His Top Ten movie lists remain popular with readers. He is a former correspondent for Amusement Business; his movie star profiles were a long-standing feature in Good Old Days magazine; and he has appeared as a regular co-host of Art Waves’ “Film on Friday” radio program on KONK AM. He serves as on-air Film Critic for Channel 19, WEYW.

Shirrel Rhoades (/ˈʃɜːrəl ˈroʊdz/; born May 19, 1942) is an American writer, publisher, professor, filmmaker, and the former executive vice president of Marvel Entertainment.