About the Author
Maria Columbus discovered Elvis Presley in 1961 and spent the next six decades doing something remarkable — making sure the world could see him the way she did.
In March 1969, Maria and her co-president Jeannie Tessum founded The Elvis Special Photo Association (TESPA), a fan club dedicated to connecting Elvis fans and preserving candid concert photography. The club launched just months before Elvis’ historic opening at the International Hotel in Las Vegas and ran for over 25 years. Though the timing never quite worked out for a photo with Elvis himself, Maria and Jeannie did earn his autograph — a small but meaningful moment for two fans who gave so much to keeping his legacy alive.
The Elvis Special also published several items for members including a set of 36 color bubblegum cards in 1988, and several small booklets: Elvis: Man, Elvis in His Own Write, Dear Elvis, Elvis 1956, Elvis 1957 and Elvis 1958.
Over the years, Maria contributed photographs and research to a wide range of books and magazines, with credits appearing under The Elvis Special or Maria Columbus in titles including Did Elvis Sing in Your Hometown Too, The Colonel, Elvis World, Faces and Stages, Bringing Him Back Elvis ’70, and many others. She has also been featured on talk shows and published articles in Goldmine and Song Hits magazines.
Maria’s photo collection spans from the 1950s through Elvis’ concert years — a near-complete visual record of his career. Her own collecting began in 1962, when she first discovered that fans were capturing and sharing candid images of Elvis — and realized those photographs were worth preserving. That commitment to documentation is what drives her current work: a series of high-quality photo books drawn from her personal archive, including Elvis 1969-1970 (International Hotel, Las Vegas), Elvis 1970 (Oakland Coliseum Arena), and Elvis 1970 (San Francisco Cow Palace).
After viewing so many of her photos showing up on the internet Maria decided to publish several high quality photo books of her photographs of Elvis Presley in concert.