Norton Juster

Norton Juster (June 2, 1929 – March 8, 2021) was an American academic, architect, and writer. He was best known as an author of children's books, notably for The Phantom Tollbooth and The Dot and the Line (1963).

Early life Juster was born in Brooklyn on June 2, 1929. Both his parents were Jewish and immigrated to the United States. His father, Samuel Juster, was born in Romania and became an architect through a correspondence course. His mother, Minnie Silberman, was of Polish Jewish descent. His brother, Howard, became an architect as well. Juster studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania, obtaining a bachelor's degree in 1952. He went on to study city planning at the University of Liverpool. It worked so amazingly well that a neighbor asked to come along as his assistant. His next scheme was to make the "Garibaldi Society" (inspired by a statue in Washington Square Park), whose raison d'être was to reject anyone who applied for membership, designing an impressive logo, application, and rejection letter. It was at this time he met Jules Feiffer while taking out the trash. This was followed by The Dot and the Line (1963), which became a standard book in classrooms around the country. He also co-founded a small architectural firm, Juster Pope Associates, in Shelburne Falls, Massachusetts, in 1970. The firm was renamed Juster Pope Frazier after Jack Frazier joined the firm in 1978.

Later life Juster lived in Massachusetts during his later years. Although he retired from architecture, he continued to write for many years. His book The Hello, Goodbye Window, published May 15, 2005, won the Caldecott Medal for Chris Raschka's illustration in 2006. Two years later, he teamed up again with Feiffer for The Odious Ogre.

Books The Phantom Tollbooth (1961; ), illustrated by Jules Feiffer The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics (1963; ) Alberic the Wise and Other Journeys (1965; ) Stark Naked: A Paranomastic Odyssey (1969; ), illus. Arnold Roth So Sweet to Labor: Rural Women in America 1865–1895 (editor; 1979; )—nonfiction Otter Nonsense (1982; ), illus. Eric Carle As: A Surfeit of Similes (1989; ) A Woman's Place: Yesterday's Women in Rural America (1996; )—nonfiction The Hello, Goodbye Window (Michael Di Capua Books, 2005; ), illus. Chris Raschka Sourpuss and Sweetie Pie (2008; ), illus. Chris Raschka The Odious Ogre (2010; ), illus. Jules Feiffer Neville (2011; ), illus. G. Brian Karas

Other media Both The Phantom Tollbooth and The Dot and the Line were adapted into films by animator Chuck Jones. The latter film received the 1966 Academy Award for Best Animated Short Film.

The Phantom Tollbooth was also adapted into a musical by Juster and Sheldon Harnick, with lyrics by Sheldon Harnick and music composed by Arnold Black.

There have been musical settings of "A Colorful Symphony" from The Phantom Tollbooth for narrator and orchestra and of The Dot and the Line for narrator and chamber ensemble by composer Robert Xavier Rodriguez.