What Disturbs Our Blood: A Son's Quest to Redeem the Past

by James Fitzgerald

A rich, unmined piece of Canadian history, an intense psychological drama, a mystery to be solved . . . and a hardwon escape from a family curse.Like his friends Banting and Best, Dr. John FitzGerald was a Canadian hero. He founded Connaught Labs, saved untold lives with his vaccines and transformed the idea of public health in Canada and the world. What so darkened his reputation that his memory has been all but erased?A sensitive, withdrawn boy is born into the gothic house of his long dead grandfather, a brilliant yet tormented pathologist of Irish blood and epic accomplishment whose memory has been mysteriously erased from public consciousness. As the boy watches his own father—also an eminent doctor—plunge into a suicidal psychosis, he intuits, as the psychiatrists do not, some unspeakable secret buried like a tumour deep in the multi-generational layers of the family unconscious. Growing into manhood, he knows in his bones that he must stalk an ancient curse before it stalks him. To set himself free, he must break the silence and put words to the page. His future lies in the past.

Genres: Memoir, Nonfiction, Canada, Biography, Biography Memoir, Book Club, History

514 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2010

Reviews

[Leigh · Rating 4 out of 5]

I wasn't quite sure what to expect from this book, but I absolutely loved it. It appeals on so many topics - early Toronto history, the history of Medicine and the struggle for public health care, the Irish immigration experience and the conflict between psychoanalysis and psychiatry. The author looks at the lives of his grandfather and father and how it has shaped his life. Along the way such people as Duke Ellington and Count Basie, Fred Banting and Charles Best and the notorious 999 Queen St. West "insane asylum" play a role. Excellent read!

[Charles · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a riveting analysis of the suppressed secrets of the author's family going back 4 generations. I found it it especially meaningful as I knew some of the characters described in the book-notably the author's father Dr.Jack FitzGerald(Fitz) who was the chief of allergy at TWH when I came to Toronto as an internist-allergist, and for a couple of years attended the TWH allergy clinic, and later the Gage Institute under Dr.Broder. I also got to know Drs.Stan Epstein(allergist-respirologist),his brother Norman(allergist-ret'd), Roman Bladek, and Alice Briggs(still an active allergist in her 80's).
The author examines the causes of his father Fitz ending his own life in his late 50's, mimicking the suicide of his extremely gifted father Gerry also at that age. Gerry had been the extremely capable, brilliant, empathic, and well-liked creator of the Connaught Institute which manufactured vaccines & antitoxins free for the public, and set up the U of Toronto School of Hygiene which became world-renowned. He was involved with Banting,Best, Collip & McLean in the discovery of &production of insulin, and managed through these to save hundreds of thousands of lives. Though highly dedicated, hard-working, and eminently successful, he succumbed to the overload of responsibilities he assumed, and neglected his wife who ultimately left him, and his children Jack(the author's father)&his other son&daughter.
There is a relentless presentation of how depression&suicide were rampant in the family&social set of the Protestant ruling elite, most of whom lived in a small area of the city(Rosedale, Forest Hill, St.Clair-Ave Rd)& went to UCC from age 8-18(the subject of an earlier book by the author). There is agood deal about treatment of mental illness by the conflicting approaches of the Toronto group(MDs using drugs, ECT, insulin shock, leucotomy, lobotomy)often with terrible results, vs. the Freudian approach of psychanalysis which Freud thought best administered by capable non-MDs.
Ultimately James FitzGerald redeems himself after unearthing these suppressed secrets, and doesn't feel bound to follow in the self-destructive footsteps of his father & grandfather.

[Owen · Rating 2 out of 5]

I really wanted to like this book as the author has spoken recently in our neighbourhood and seems to be a nice and smart guy. The work is obviously cathartic to him as he tried to exorcise his family demons through it. The book could have been a good family history, overview of mental health treatment in the 20th century, look at medical heroes in the Toronto area or collection of the author's dreams. The problem is that it tries to be all of these things and therefore lacks focus. The author also overplays his descriptive hand in many places, referring to Toronto streetcars as being "blood red", amongst other hyperbole. He tries too hard to do too much and the book suffers for it. It reads more like a first or second draft rather than a completed work. Maybe he was too close to the material to properly deal with paring it down and we should blame his editor. Whatever the reason, the result is a rambling and unfocused work with too many instances of distracting use of language. Many of the stories and images have stuck with me, but not enough to recommend this book to others.

[Darrell Reimer · Rating 3 out of 5]

James FitzGerald's father was a renowned allergist, a man who pioneered research techniques in his professional field, until his 50s, when an irreversible slide into depression and several failed suicide attempts put an end to his career. FitzGerald's grandfather was also a medical man, but the writer has no idea just how renowned until he discovers the man suffered a similar collapse in his 50s. Hoping to get some answers and possibly escape what now seems like a preordained fate, the writer uncovers a profound familial history of zeal, ambition, and remarkable global achievement and recognition -- which seemingly evaporated at the time of death.

Although at times I felt as if the writer was perhaps too close to the story, recounting dreams and digressing into Freudian theory a little too frequently for my liking, it is undeniably his story to tell. He tells it well -- rarely was my patience tested to the point of speed-reading. For his contributions to our understanding of immunology, Gerry FitzGerald should be recalled as readily as his colleagues Banting & Best. And although Western medicine has evolved a great deal from those terrible days of isolating and pointedly torturing mental health patients (techniques described in excruciating detail by the writer), there is still a great deal of progress to be made in the field.

So long as the reader is prepared to indulge the writer his fervor for the psychotherapy that has enabled him to survive and thrive into his 60s, I have no trouble giving this book a high recommendation.

[Shazmah · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an interesting look into the history of public health and mental health in Canada, specifically Toronto. As a health care professional, I found this book particularly captivating. I had no idea about the strides Canada, specifically Dr. Gerald Fitzgerald and his colleagues, have made in making vaccines accessible to all Canadians, including the disenfranchised, the poor. The author does a great job in painting a picture of Canada's health care system in the first half of the 20th century, including the on-going battle between psychiatry and medicine. I was actually surprised to read about the inhumane treatment the mentally-ill received during this time. However, I feel nothing has changed since then as these individuals continue to be stigmatized. Reading about the history of mental health illness in a family across generations confirms the perplexity of this diagnosis and the effect it has on families. It remains a taboo and the least talked about topic at the dinner table.

[Karen Boothroyd · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well this was a tad tedious. However, I enjoyed the historical perspective and am wondering why the Fitzgerald family has not received more credit for their contributions to health care in Canada. I actually could not finish this book. I read what I did read because it was a Book Club read, but many times I just wanted to throw it down in frustration. Sorry James, but I thought you were a little over dramatic and a little on the whiney side.

[Emmkay · Rating 2 out of 5]

By about page 125, this was just starting to feel unnecessarily long and wordy. The psychoanalytic angle was also too heavy-handed for me.

[Kristine Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

The proprietor at D&E Lake Books on King Street East made me buy this book. A must read, he said, for anyone interested in Toronto history. I just now saw that Don Lake’s testimonial for the book is, “The best Canadian book I’ve ever, ever read”, which may explain his emphatic recommendation. The book was extremely well-written and very engrossing. At heart, it is a deeply personal exploration of the author's family secrets, an attempt to heal a rift through time and end generational depression and suicide. Through the stories of his grandfather Gerry FitzGerald and his father Jack FitzGerald, both eminent medical men, he tells the history of public health in Canada sparked by various bacteriology and immunization discoveries, the least of which was insulin by Frederick Banting and Charles Best. Alongside, he tells the story of those at the forefront of psychiatry and mental health in Toronto.

Gerry FitzGerald was the founder of Connaught Labs and the University of Toronto School of Hygiene. This joined enterprise took new discoveries in immunization—like insulin in the 1920's, diphtheria toxoid in the 1930s, Heparin in the 1940s, penicillin and polio vaccine in the 1950s—and made vaccinations happen. After reducing diphtheria by 90% in Ontario school children, Canada became "acknowledged as the world leader in overcoming the difficulties of producing and distributing on a large-scale a safe and effective preventive medicine.” Reading this in context of the 2020-21 global Covid-19 pandemic where Canada has only a small role in the international effort to find, develop and distribute a vaccine, is saddening.

As the author retells his family history and plots out the main events and facts of medical breakthroughs in the development of Canada’s public health system, the reader gets a glimpse into the lives of Toronto’s political, professional, academic class—Fred Banting, Charles Best, C.K. Clarke – founder of the Clarke Institute, John Amyot – Canada’s first Deputy Minister of Health, and Charles Hastings – Toronto’s public health hero.

Within the pages, the reader also takes a socio-geographical tour of places relevant to the FitzGerald family, like the former Connaught Labs estate at Steeles and Dufferin (now the Sanofi-Pasteur complex) where a museum inhabits the original lab buildings. Or 145 Barton (north of Christie Pits) where Gerry FitzGerald’s lab barn once stood and now is part of the museum; the former School of Hygiene that still stands at 150 College Street; 1 Spadina Crescent, formerly Knox College, where Connaught Labs once pumped out heroic quantities of blood plasma, penicillin, and polio vaccine; a four-storey concrete medical office building at 25 Leonard close to Western Hospital built in 1960 by Jack FitzGerald and which is now a women's shelter; the C.K. Clarke Institute (now part of CAMH) on College, and last but not least a visit to 999 Queen Street West – Ontario’s Provincial Lunatic Asylum, where Gerry FitzGerald worked early on in his medical career.

I am always fascinated by the histories of families that have lived in Toronto for generations. James Fitzgerald’s paternal side, after setting foot in Port Hope in 1823, journeyed from small town Millbrook, Drayton, and Harrison, where his great-grandfather ran a village pharmacy, to his grand-father living in for a time in a swanky residential hotel Alexandra Palace on Avenue Road then Forest Hill. His mother’s family traces their roots back to John Ewart and early Toronto builder. The book is a wonderful read no matter what aspect of Toronto’s past most interests you.

[Steffy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book was fascinating. I give it only a 4-star because it was not a page-turner and felt quite slow in the middle. But I give it 4-stars because the last 100 pages... these were both fascinating and gripping.

I would recommend that everyone read that last section of this book - it shows the downward spiral of a man who demanded from himself the impossible, and could not see the vortex in which he trapped himself. And it shows how everyone around him, and society at the time, helped him descend instead of giving him something to hold on to. It was entirely understandable and horrifying and heartbreaking.

Overall, it deals with the medical revolutions of the early 1900s and the men in Toronto who made Canada a glorious beacon of public health. And it deals with the unfortunate treatment of mental health - the desperate desire to find the "pathogen" of mental illness, to cut open, to drug, to fix by physical means, opposed only by the warring (and losing) camp of those who followed the romantic and mystic notions of psychic talk therapy. The lack of compassion, the fear of "catching" the disease, the fear of discovering that one is also "defective in the genes" crushes almost everyone surrounding the author's family. It is excellent food for thought on our modern approach to physical and mental health.

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

Incredible research, great historical glimpse into white privileged lives in Toronto 1900’s, deep dive into early scientific research into virus, bacteria and insulin discovery. Lots of details on early “scientific “ treatment of mental illness. Interesting hypothesis on the curse of the Irish depressive gene. Anecdotal information on pressure of the white male in conservative Toronto. Highly recommend as background to any questions about the society that was Rosedale, UCC, Bishop Strachan and all the icons that were once “Toronto the Good”. Written by author who’s family he puts under the microscope.

[LeJune Pier · Rating 1 out of 5]

This could have been a great book, there was a really interesting story here but it was drowned by excessive details on his grandfather's medical career instead of exploring " what was disturbs our blood." I thought this book was going to be about generational mental illness, but 60% of the book focused on the history of medicine in Toronto. The book really never addresses what the books description says the books is about.

[Kristen · Rating 2 out of 5]

While the topic was interesting I felt the book could have used another round of thorough editing. I had a hard time keeping all of the names straight as the author basically mentioned every person his grandfather or father ran into in their lifetimes. By the end of the book I could barely remember the point of the book - there was just too much information to digest.

[Christopher Long · Rating 5 out of 5]

One of the most compelling memoirs I've read. It blends Toronto history and the history of the medical establishment in Canada with a fascinating multi-generational family story that's burst open by thoughtful self-analysis.

[Cathy Wilson · Rating 5 out of 5]

.... a great read!
Covers Toronto history early 1900s, establishment of Connaught labs and vaccination, public health, works of Banting and Best, discovering and dealing with mental health issues ( insane asylums, lobotomies ...)
Story is told by Jack Fitzgerald ( grandson of Jerry Fitzgerald)

[Deb · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a well written, factual book that is pertinent to every Canadian.

[Barb Mcmurray · Rating 5 out of 5]

I read this book several years ago. I enjoyed it as much or more the second time in preparation for my book club.
Having worked in public health and at Connaught Labs, now known as Sanofi Pasteur, I found the history most interesting and fascinating.
Dr Gerry FitzGerald was ahead of his time in his crusade on health promotion and disease prevention. Banting and Best's discovery of insulin and the role played by Connaught Labs is another one of several important times in medical history which are documented in the book.
The history on the treatment of those with mental illness was appalling. It has taken us a long time get to where we are today yet how much or how little progress has been made?
Overall, James FitzGerald has been skillful in writing the FitzGerald family history and their battle with mental illness over several generations to read like a novel rather than the non-fiction book that it is.

[Hella Comat · Rating 5 out of 5]

Written by his grandson, this book is about Dr. J. G. FitzGerald, a pioneering doctor in Toronto in the early 20th century. He created Canada's first rabies vaccine and founded Connaught Laboratories in which Banting and Best did their pioneering work with insulin. James' father, another doctor, was famous for opening the first Canadian practice treating allergies. Despite these successes and what the title refers to is the mental illness that plagued both father and grandfather and many of their family members. Undiagnosed depression, extended stays in mental institutions and suicides affected an abnormally high number of family and extended family members.
The author also wrote Old Boys - about Upper Canada College and the tradition of abuse that was accepted and existed for far too long.

[Eva Antonel · Rating 5 out of 5]

To read another man's story and see your own in the process is a sign of great achievement for a reader as well as the writer. James FitzGearald has achieved much by writing a memoir of his family and that of Canadian medicine. The two are intertwined in such a way as to seem inseparable and yet individuals fail to thrive because they feel so alone. A quest by the author to come to terms with his personal history gives the reader a lot to think about in terms of how we all feel inclined to follow paths layed out by our predecessors and yet how we can and should follow that insistent voice to carve out our own.Fascinating,informative, thought provoking and emotionally moving. This book will stay with me for a long time.

[John · Rating 4 out of 5]

Very interesting read, although the book suffers a bit from being too dense--too much unnecessary detail. If you have experienced mental illness in your family (we certainly have) this will be a powerful read. And even if you haven't experienced it, this book is very informative. I found Fitzgerald's insistence on talk therapy alone, and his Freudian baggage, to be way overdone. He's too combative. But his description of the shortcomings of treatment for mental illness up ten or twenty years ago is spot on. The story of Banting/Best/Fitzgerald and Canaught labs is also very interesting. Fitzgerald's family shows that mental illness can easily go with great achievement too, and that refusing to talk about mental illness is the wrong tack to take.

[Peggy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is almost impossible to categorize. It's a memoir, written by a man trying to understand his family and discover its secrets. It's a book about mental illness, because that runs through his family (and others). It's a history of medicine in Canada because his grandfather founded Connaught Labs and strove to immunize (at no profit!) the citizens of Canada and the world. His father founded our first allergy clinic. It's a social history of the upper middle class in Toronto in the twentieth century, dealing with private schools and the suppression of talented women. It's a genealogical study of a man tracing his roots. Aside from the slightly annoying flights of fancy of the author (imaginative but overwritten), I found it fascinating.

[Axia · Rating 3 out of 5]

I saw the author speak in Whitehorse and bought the book. The book was eye opening - I learned alot about the history of medicine in Canada, madness and suicide. It got me thinking about the my own family history and how our secrets affect us. I found the author's musings on the relationships between fathers and sons fascinating but difficult to relate to. The language was full of hyperbole which makes the book a bit of a slog but the mystery and brisk pacing make up for it.

[Patricia Sands · Rating 2 out of 5]

The writer uses words well but I found the heavy emotional family issues rather much at times. However there is a great deal of fascinating historical information about Canada's health system and medicine in general in the first half of the last century. The author's personal connection to that history brings it alive and makes the book well worth reading.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

I got about 3/4 of the way through before I had to take it back to the library. The first half, which was a lot of family history and Toronto history, was great. I wasn't particularly sad that I didn't get to finish it, though, because the second half was more about the history of psychiatry, and I wasn't that interested.

[Kenn Chaplin · Rating 5 out of 5]

I'm only about one-fifth of the way through this book but I'm totally engrossed in the story(ies) being told with the emotion the author could only dream of experiencing with his grandfather and father. It's a look at the knife's edge between genius and utter despair; it is the author's discovery of his family tree, shoots, bark, sap and all.

[Sharon · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting story of one man' search to discover his family as a path to understanding himself. His exploration reveals little known aspects of the birth of public health in North America and the establishment of the Canadian health system. Fascinating read.

[Amy · Rating 1 out of 5]

The story had potential but too much background history on every minute detail. It was interesting to learn about the history of Canada's public health system. Thank you Dr. Fitzgerald for your pioneering on preventative medicine.

[Nan Smith · Rating 5 out of 5]

Intriguing read chronicling a family in upper class Toronto throughout the 20th century. Fascinating insights into medical breakthroughs, the development of public health care, mental illness, treatment and society's view of mental illness and a personal in depth analysis of one family's dynamics.

[Sandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars. I found the first half of this book repetitive and boring but the second half that dealt with the discoveries of vaccines and insulin was informative and interesting. 3 for the first half and 4 for the last half.

[Shadoh · Rating 3 out of 5]

good so far, lots of toronto history,

[Suzanne · Rating 3 out of 5]

What a family history to explore! A bit repetitive in its telling, but then again, history did seem to repeat itself.