A native Hoosier, Richard Ades graduated from Ball State University and immediately began a two-year stint in Volunteers in Service to America. VISTA sent him to Detroit, where he spent the next decade getting involved in projects that helped to establish his lifetime interest in progressive causes. The projects included staging satirical theater and making movies, including a documentary on Detroit’s 1980 Women Take Back the Night march. He also got to know folks who put out a newspaper called The Fifth Estate, which turned him on to the value of alternative journalism.

That’s why, after moving to Columbus in 1981, Richard quickly joined the volunteer staff of The Free Press and spent several years contributing news stories, movie reviews and theater reviews. He also became involved in a group called the Columbus Film Association, which hosted screenings of independent flicks that otherwise wouldn’t be seen locally. One of his proudest achievements as a member of the group’s board was helping to launch Accessible Arts, a nonprofit that promoted the audio description of films to make them accessible to people with visual impairment. Then, in 1990, Richard began contributing to a new weekly called The Other Paper and eventually became a full-time staff member. He remained with TOP—as an editor, writer and critic—until it closed in 2013. 

Today, Richard spends much of his time calling, organizing and participating in a traditional form of social dance known as contra dancing. However, he still writes movie and occasional theater reviews for his own blog, ReelTimeWithRichard.com.