Tell him I said that he will know when he's my age that books aren't written on whims or old promises. Books are written on years turned inside out by ideas that never let go until you get them in print, and even then writing's a last resort, a desperate ransom you pay to get your life back.

Bach has retained a dedicated fan base throughout the years. Their son Jonathan is a software engineer and journalist who wrote Above the Clouds about growing up without knowing his father Richard and then later meeting him as a college student. Bach married his third wife Sabryna Nelson-Alexopoulos in April 1999.

He is widely known as the author of the hugely popular 1970s best-sellers Jonathan Livingston Seagull and Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah among others. He has pursued flying as a hobby since the age of 17.