George Harry Stine was raised in Colorado Springs. He earned a degree in physics from Colorado College in Colorado Springs. After graduating, he worked at White Sands Proving Grounds, first as a civilian scientist and then, from 1955–1957, at the U.S. Naval Ordnance Missile Test Facility as head of the Range Operations Division. Together with Orville Carlisle, he founded Model Missiles Inc., the first manufacturer of model rockets. Stine also founded the National Association of Rocketry and served as its president until the late 1960s. He wrote several books about rockets, as well as science fiction under the pseudonym Lee Correy.