George C. Coulam

George C Coulam was born on May 2, 1937 in Salt Lake City, Utah to a mormon family. He is self described as "a healthy 6’2”,173 lbs., 86-year-old sexually active Caucasian male entrepreneur" per his website, . He moved to Southern California and earned both his Bachelor of Arts in Art and his Master of Fine Arts from the University of California at North Ridge. During his time in California, George visited numerous Renaissance fairs that fascinated him. When he went back to Salt Lake City, he tried to start a similar festival there. However, because the Mormon church did not support his idea, he decided to move to Todd Mission, Texas. In 1974, George established the Texas Renaissance Festival, known as the TRF, on a 15-acre piece of land that was once an abandoned strip mining site. Starting with just three stages and a few merchants, the festival drew an initial crowd of 33,000. Over time, both the TRF and Todd Mission flourished. On July 9, 1982, George and fifteen others applied to make Todd Mission an official city. Once approved, George became its first and sole mayor, and still holds that position today. He has recently become more popular with the release of a HBO Documnetary series called "Ren Faire" that focuses on George's unique lifestyle and the challenges faced by the festival over three years. See HBO Original- Ren Faire.