Coons, the Yellow Hat Guy, is the Champion of Justice, and the Purveyor of Truth. He fights a never-ending battle to protect the meek, the shy, the nerdy, against the evil forces of religion, neo-conservative politics, and manatees.

            Ryan William Coons was born on July 12, 1981 in Meadville, PA, the son of a restaurant manager and one of his waitresses. He moved to Edinboro, PA in 1984. That same year, he was diagnosed with a lazy eye, which was surgically corrected. Wearing an eye patch through his formative years excluded him from participating in anything with the suffix "'-ball" due to lack of the requisite depth perception. This caused him to turn to books, moives, and to his own hyperactive imagination. From an early age, he demonstrated a flair for the physical sciences and Egyptology, along with an unhealthy fascination of weapons. He was raised as a Roman Catholic, but is expected to make a full recovery.

            In June 1996, Coons began to wear yellow bucket hats, with the brim folded up in the back, as an ertaz fedora. He also began writing regularly to pass the time while his friends were at band camp.

            He achieved a small amount of Internet fame in the summer of 1997 with the creation of the "Mr. T vs. Hanson" webcomic, prompting teenyboppers to send him death threats from four continents. His fame slid in direct proportion with Hanson's, though the comic received regular fan mail until it went offline in 2001. All traces of "Mr. T vs. Hanson" and his follow-up "Mr. T vs. RoboCop" have been lost to history.

            He graduated from General McLane High School in Edinboro with mediocre grades and a burning hatred for fine literature in 1999. He also earned the rank of Eagle Scout  at this time. Upon graduation, he attended the conveniently nearby Edinboro University of Pennsylvania. There he earned a B.S. in physics, with minors in mathematics and political science, in 2004. He was known on campus as Yellow Hat Guy, and was of the most recognizable and well-known people on campus, much to the chagrin of all the Edinboro fraternity and sorority members, all of whom desired the popularity which Coons acquired without conscious effort.  (It should be known that this notoriety is only because Unicycle Guy graduated in 2001.)

            In the dorms of Edinboro, Coons met inummerable interesting people, and had many wacky adventures. He met some amazing women, but didn't get anywhere with them. He also drove in to Erie at least three times a week to learn the art of  
Goshinjutsu Karatedo, an American-founded non-sport form of Okinawian-style karate, with strong aikijutsu influences. Coons was awarded the rank of nidan (second degree black belt) in 2007.

            After graduation from Edinboro, his gypsy blood called him onward to Oxford, OH. There he attended Miami University, earning the M.S. in physics in 2006. His thesis was on the improvment and characterization of a high-power, broad-area diode laser coupled to a external variable-length Littman-Metcalf cavity.

            In this time he read lots of books, and dabbled in several martial arts, primarily judo, where he suffered a gruesome shoulder dislocation, which makes for a neat story to tell people in bars. Coons also earned a reputation as a nuisance and instigator by the pretentious social conservatives within his department that took offense at anything novel, fun, or remotely straying from the social norm.


            He supported himself with a teaching assistanship, and taught several sections of intro-level physics labs. He gained a reputation as a "hard TA" from his brutal grading of formal lab reports and rejection of any and all attempts to appeal to his emotions. However, his dynamic lecturing ability, sarcastic wit, and ability to make complex ideas simple, made Coons well liked amongst his students...or at least the ones who showed improvement in their ability to write and construct logical arguments.

            After graduation, Coons frantically searched for jobs for several months. He eventually became a barback at a casino, and tried to get his work published in the mainstream media. Coons does not recommend either one.

            Coons currently resides in West Lafayette, IN, and is enrolled at Purdue University, where he studies nuclear engineering (and kendo).

            Coons is also single. Nubile women ages 18-29 can obtain an application here.

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