ABSTRACT
William Emet Blatz, known to his friends as Bill, was a professor of psychology and the founder and first director of the Institute of Child Study at the University of Toronto. He was also perhaps the most colorful figure in the early history of Canadian psychology. Bill Blatz was sharp of mind and wit. To say that he was controversial is an understatement. His style was provocative. He deliberately shocked and challenged the psychological and educational establishment of his time. To alert and arouse his audiences, he created ambiguity and insecurity. Sometimes he aroused them too much, by condemning all of the traditional “sacred cows” of education and childrearing. The Senate of the University of Toronto once declared in a jocular accolade, Blatz was “a general all-round disturber of the intellectual peace.”
