Norton Juster, author of beloved 1961 children’s bookThe Phantom Tollbooth,has died.
Renowned illustrator and cartoonist Jules Feiffer illustrated the novel.
“He was one of the quickest, smartest, most immediately engaging people I’ve ever known.
Norton Juster.Bill Greene/The Boston Globe via Getty Images
His singular quality was being mischievous.
He saw humor as turning everything on its head.
Norton was certainly one of them.”
‘The Phantom Tollbooth’ by Norton Juster.Random House
Juster and Feiffer reunited in 2010forThe Odious Ogre.
It was adapted again in 2017 into a musical piece and performed at Carnegie Hall withJohn Lithgowas a narrator.
Norton Juster was born June 2, 1929 in New York City.
He studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania and that would be his primary career throughout his life.
He often referred to himself as an “accidental writer.”
ButThe Phantom Tollboothmarked his first published work.
Architecture predominated his life, despite his love of writing.
He was a professor of architecture and environmental design at Hampshire College from 1970 to 1992.
He also co-founded a small architectural firm in Massachusetts in 1970, where he worked until 1996.
After his retirement from architecture, he continued to write.
His 2005 bookThe Hello, Goodbye Windowwon the Caldecott Medal for Chris Raschka’s illustrations.
He penned a sequel,Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie,in 2008.
Both of these books were inspired by Juster’s granddaughter.
Other books includeOtter Nonsense, As: A Surfeit of Similes,and his final work, 2011’sNeville.
He is survived by his daughter, Emily, and granddaughter, Tori.
