G. Harry Stine

G. Harry Stine (March 26, 1928 - November 2, 1997) is widely regarded as the father of model rocketry. Although he did not invent the hobby – that distinction goes to Orville Carlisle – he popularized it and made it into an organized hobby. He founded the National Association of Rocketry, serving as its president for a time, and authored the authoritative text Handbook of Model Rocketry. He also helped found the first firm to sell model rocket kits to the public. In addition to the above mentioned handbook, Stine also prepared numerous other technical and science fiction publications.

He wrote science fiction under the name Lee Correy, which included a Star Trek novel called The Abode of Life and the original novel Shuttle Down. Under his own name, he was a regular science-fact columnist for Astounding and its later successor Analog.

In 1957 he gained some minor prominence as a rocketry expert in the United States after the launch of Sputnik. His book Earth Satellites and the Race for Space Superiority was published a month before the unveiling of the USSR's first satellite, and included the prophetic teaser "For the first time since the dawn of history, the Earth is going to have more than one moon. This is due to happen within the next few months—or it may have already happened even at the time you are reading this."

He died in Phoenix, Arizona of an apparent stroke.