Beloved children’s book author Norton Juster, who wrote “The Phantom Tollbooth,” died Monday at his home in Massachusetts, his daughter said. He was 91.
Norton’s daughter, Emily Juster, said in a statement that the cause of death was complications from a recent stroke, The New York Times reported.
“The Phantom Tollbooth,” first published in 1961, is the story of a bored boy named Milo who, when a tollbooth appears in his room, passes through it into a land of whimsy, wordplay and imagination, the Times reported.
Norton Juster, author of “The Phantom Tollbooth,” one of the most beloved children's books in modern times, has died at 91. https://t.co/6xQ80hxysN
— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 9, 2021
The book was illustrated by Jules Feiffer, who would go on to a successful career as a cartoonist and author.
“The Phantom Tollbooth” has sold more than 5 million copies and has been reissued multiple times, the Times reported. It later was made into an animated film and a stage musical.
“I had been an odd child,” Juster wrote in a 2011 essay for NPR to commemorate the book’s 50th anniversary. “Quiet, introverted and moody. When I grew up, I still felt like that puzzled kid: disconnected, disinterested and confused. There was no rhyme or reason in that kid’s life.”
“He’s more like me than I was, actually,” Juster once told CBS News.
My lunch partner, Norton Juster, ran out of stories & passed peacefully last night.
— Mo Willems' Pigeon (@The_Pigeon) March 9, 2021
Best known for THE PHANTOM TOLLBOOTH + THE DOT & THE LINE, Norton’s greatest work was himself: a tapestry of delightful tales.
Miss him.
"To the vector goes the spoils." pic.twitter.com/9PObTjRes7
Juster once said his chief influences had been the Marx Brothers, the screen-comedy team, and his father, who enjoyed wordplay.
“He would be sitting there,” Juster told NPR, “and he would look at me and very seriously say, ‘Aha. I see you’re coming early since lately. You used to be behind before, but now, you’re first at last.’ I had no idea what he was talking about, of course.”
In a statement, Feiffer said Juster’s work impacted generations of readers.
“His singular quality was being mischievous,” Feiffer said. “He saw humor as turning everything on its head. It’s incredible the effect he had on millions of readers who turned ‘The Phantom Tollbooth’ into something of a cult or a religion.”
Juster was born in Brooklyn, New York on June 2, 1929. He spent three years in the Navy and then began working as an architect in New York City, The Washington Post reported.
For adult readers, Juster wrote “A Woman’s Place: Yesterday’s Women in Rural America” in 1996. His other notable children’s books were “The Dot and the Line: A Romance in Lower Mathematics” (1963), “Alberic the Wise and Other Journeys” (1965), “As Silly as Knees, as Busy as Bees: An Astounding Assortment of Similes” (1998), and “The Hello, Goodbye Window” (2005) with Chris Raschka.
The 2005 book was inspired by Juster’s granddaughter, the Post reported.
Cox Media Group
