Whatever harm I would do to another, I shall do first to myself. As I respect and am kind to myself, so shall I respect and be kind to peers, to elders, to kits. I claim for others the freedom to live as they wish, to think and believe as they will. I claim that freedom for myself. I shall make each choice and live each day to my highest sense of right.

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.