In a career spanning seventeen years as a Designated Pilot Examiner until victimized by rogue FAA officials, he administered over four thousand certification flight tests for all certificates and ratings. Fried is a lecturer and speaker on Aviation Education and Safety and an expert witness in aviation litigation.

In 1929, Fay Gillis Wells soloed before she was twenty-one. The next day she tumbled out of a disintegrating plane and saved her life with a parachute. She was the first woman to evacuate a damaged airplane with a parachute. This event was the start of a career that led her to Russia, to Africa, even to the White House as the White House Correspondent for the Storer Broadcasting Company. She flew a Russian military plane outside of Moscow; she covered wars. Aviation events, special world news items, and four United States Presidents; she patented special furniture for houseboats; she hobnobbed with celebrities from all professions; and through all of these adventures, this gracious woman with the heartwarming smile remained a devoted wife and mother.

Fay Gillis Wells, in her ninety-four years, had enough adventures for several lifetimes. Yet, she remained a friendly unassuming lady whom everyone loves until the end of her life in December 2002. Her story cried out to be told.

The result of over seven years of research and writing by Howard J. Fried and his sister, Lillian F. Brinnon, Fay Gillis Wells: In the Air and on the Air is the story of a remarkable woman, Lillian, with her interviewing and research skills, and Howard, with his aviation expertise, and both with their sharply-honed writing skills have brought Fay's fascinating saga to life. Readers will feel they knew Fay personally when they finish reading this masterful portrait of a great lady.