Richard Bach (born 23 June 1936) is an American writer, widely known as the author of some of the 1970s' biggest sellers, including Jonathan Livingston Seagull (1970) and Illusions: The Adventures of a Reluctant Messiah (1977). Most of Bach's books have been semi-autobiographical, using actual or fictionalized events from his life to illustrate his philosophy, that our apparent physical limits and mortality are merely appearance.