Thomas Sterling North was an renowned author of books for youngsters and adults, including 1963s famous bestselling Rascal. The book is a remembrance of a year in his childhood when he had a pet raccoon named Rascal. This was made into a Disney movie by the same name. He also wrote a book Midnight and Jeremiah which was also made into a Disney film called So Dear To My Heart.

Thomas Sterling North (4 November 1906 - 22 December 1974) was an internationally known author of books for youngsters and adults, including 1963's famous bestselling Rascal. North (who swiftly jettisoned the first name Thomas in favor of Sterling) was born on the second floor of a farmhouse on the shores of Lake Koshkonong, a few miles distant from Edgerton, Wisconsin, in 1906 and died in Morristown, New Jersey, in 1974.

Sterling North was an internationally known author of books for youngsters and adults, including 1963's famous bestselling Rascal.