At an early age George developed an interest in space flight through reading popular space fiction like Buck Rodgers and the early 1950s Collier's series on space flight. Carruthers's father also encouraged his interests in math and science. At the age of 10, Carruthers built his first telescope out of cardboard tubing and lenses purchased using money he earned as a delivery boy. He did not perform well in elementary school, earning poor grades in math and physics. However, he won three separate science fair awards during this time.