Norton Juster
| Norton Juster | |
|---|---|
| Born |
June 2, 1929 Brooklyn, New York, US |
| Occupation | Academic, writer |
| Nationality | American |
| Alma mater | University of Pennsylvania |
| Period | 1961–present (children's writer) |
| Genre | Children's fiction, wordplay |
| Notable works | The Phantom Tollbooth |
Norton Juster (born June 2, 1929) is an American academic, architect, and popular writer. He is best known as an author of children's books, notably for The Phantom Tollbooth and The Dot and the Line.
Juster was born in Brooklyn, New York City. His father, Samuel Juster, was Jewish and born in Romania, and became an architect through a correspondence course. His mother, Minnie Silberman, came from a Polish-Jewish background. His brother, Howard, became an architect as well. He studied architecture at the University of Pennsylvania.
In 1954, Juster enlisted in the Civil Engineer Corps of the United States Navy, and rose to the rank of Lieutenant Junior Grade. During one tour, to combat boredom, he began to write and illustrate a story for children, but the commanding officer later reprimanded him for it. Still, Juster also finished an unpublished satirical fairy tale called "The Passing of Irving".
Later posted in the Brooklyn Navy Yard, again to combat boredom, he made up a non-existent military publication called the Naval News Service as a scheme to request interviews with attractive women. It worked so 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 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.
About 6 months after meeting Feiffer, Juster received his discharge from the Navy, and worked for a Manhattan architectural firm, with some part-time teaching, and other jobs. Juster, Feiffer, and another friend rented an apartment on State Street. Juster also resorted to pulling pranks occasionally on Feiffer.
Juster's celebrated children's novel, The Phantom Tollbooth, was published in 1961, with Feiffer doing the drawings. Although he enjoyed writing, his architectural career remained his primary emphasis. He served as a professor of architecture and environmental design at Hampshire College from its first trimester in 1970 until his retirement in 1992.
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