"To Caress the Air is a biographical novel based on Herring's 22-year career in aeronautics. The story takes place in the United States during the late 19th and early 20th centuries and chronicles Herring's aeronautical achievements, his ordeals, and his triumph over severe adversity. Seldom acknowledged by historians or authors, Herring was nevertheless portrayed by his cutthroat contemporaries as an "aeronautical hyena" - a surly character who prowled the boundaries of the flying-machine community." -- From dust jacket.