Richard Bach (born 23 June 1936) is an American writer and a distant descendant of composer Johann Sebastian Bach.

Author of Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1970), Illusions (1977), One (1989), Out of My Mind (1999), among other works of fiction and nonfiction.

Richard, born in Oak Park, IL, to Roland Robert and Ruth Helen (Shaw) Bach, attended Long Beach State College (now California State University, Long Beach) in 1955.

Bach's early experiences included being an Air Force reserve pilot and nearly all of his books revolve around flight in some way, from the early stories which are straightforwardly about flying aircraft to the later books in which flight is a complex philosophical metaphor. Bach had a huge success with Jonathan Livingston Seagull which has not been equalled by his later books: nevertheless his work remains popular with readers.

Many of his later books contain New Age philosophy and wisdom.

Richard Bach appeared online in the early 1990s in a section of his own at Compuserve, and answered all emails personally until he received too many to deal with. He also had his own website, now disappeared.

Bach had six children with his first wife. His second wife was actress Leslie Parrish, whom he met during the shooting of the movie Jonathan Livingston Seagull in 1973 and married in 1981; The Bridge Across Forever is based on their courtship. They are now divorced.

Works

• Stranger to the Ground (1963)
• Biplane (1966)
• Nothing by Chance (1969)
• Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1970)[[1]]
• A Gift of Wings (1974)
• There's No Such Place As Far Away (1976)
• Illusions (1977)
• The Bridge Across Forever (1984)
• One (1988)
• Running from Safety (1994)
• Out of My Mind (1999)
• The Ferret Chronicles:
  • Air Ferrets Aloft (2002)
  • Rescue Ferrets at Sea (2002)
  • Writer Ferrets: Chasing the Muse (2002)
  • Rancher Ferrets on the Range (2003)
• The Last War (2003)
• Flying (2003)
• Messiah's Handbook (2004)

External links

• A Richard Bach Fan Site
• Bibliography
• richardbach.com