Radio reporter and Nevada history enthusiast David Coons was born on September 25, 1939 in Lebanon, Indiana, but he spent most of his life in Las Vegas, Nevada. He graduated from Las Vegas High School in 1958 before studying broadcasting in Los Angeles, California. Coons, a longtime member of the Nevada Historical Society, was especially interested in railroads, and he collected memorabilia and ephemera from railroads in the American Southwest. Coons died in 1983 in Las Vegas.