This book, about famed hymn composer and baritone signer P.P. Bliss and the Ashtabula Disaster in which he and his wife Lucy Bliss died, was edited by Thomas E. Corts, Ph.D. and features essays by: Charles A. Burnham, Thomas E. Corts, Barbara J. Hamilton, Darrell E. Hamilton, Timothy M. Kalil, David G. Tobias. The book is about the life of Phillip Paul Bliss and the Ashtabula Disaster.
 
The 1876 accident at Ashtabula had all the elements of a classic tragedy: cold, snowy weather that lent eeriness to the dark of night; height, as in the 70 feet from bridge to river; modern technology in an experimental iron bridge; mechanical power in locomotives; human beings fighting for their lives; fire, water and ice all at once; the evil of robbers preying on the injured and dying; the good in heroes and heroines who risked their lives to rescue the needy; the event striking the unknown, and the world-famous, such as P. P. Bliss. It is difficult to imagine a worse happening to a little village of 2,500 citizens.