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A direct descendant of the composer Johann Sebastian Bach, Richard Bach was born in Oak Park, Illinois, in 1936. He attended Long Beach State College in 1955 and had a successful career in aviation, as an Air Force pilot, a flight instructor, an aviation mechanic, and an editor for Flying magazine. Jonathan Livingston Seagull, the novel that made him famous, was written as the result of a vision. Halfway through the book, the vision disappeared and, finding that he was unable to continue, Bach, put the novel aside. When the vision reappeared, Bach finished the work. Jonathan Livingston Seagull, published in 1972, was an unexpected success and became the best-selling book in the United States for that year. The book is heavily influenced by Bach's love of flying and provides a marvelous inspirational message. The Bridge Across Forever: A Love Story, One, Messiah's Handbook: Reminders for the Advanced Soul (2004), and Hypnotizing Maria (2009) are some of his other novels that blend inspiration, love, fantasy, and hope. In recent years Bach has written Thank Your Wicked Parents: Blessings from a Difficult Childhood (2012), Rainbow Ridge and Travels with Puff: A Gentle Game of Life and Death (2013), NiceTiger, (Bowker Author Biography) He is the author of eleven books, including Stranger to the Ground, Biplane, A Gift of Wings, Illusions, One, and Running from Safety. (Publisher Provided) — biography from Jonathan Livingston Seagull… (more)
Richard Bach, a pilot and aviation writer, achieved success as a new age author with the publication of Jonathan Livingston Seagull, a novel that Bach maintains was the result of two separate visionary experiences over a period of eight years. Bach's simple allegory with spiritual and philosophical overtones received little critical recognition but captured the mood of the 1970s, becoming popular with a wide range of readers, from members of the drug culture to mainstream Christian denominations. A direct descendant of Johann Sebastian Bach, Richard David Bach was born in Oak Park, Illinois, to Roland Bach, a former United States Army Chaplain, and Ruth (Shaw) Bach. While attending Long Beach State College in California, he took flying lessons, igniting his lifelong passion for aviation. From 1956-1959 he served in the United States Air Force and earned his pilot wings. In the 1960s he directed the Antique Airplane Association and also worked as a charter pilot, flight instructor, and barnstormer in the Midwest, where he offered plane rides for three dollars a person. During this period, he worked as a free-lance writer, selling articles to Flying, Soaring, Air Facts, and other magazines. He also wrote three books about flying which were Stranger to the Ground (1963), Biplane (1966), and Nothing by Chance (1969).
Since Jonathan Livingston Seagull, he has continued to share his philosophies on life, relationships, and reincarnation in six different books.
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