Which author wrote the book titled 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull'?

Richard Bach (born 1936) is the author who wrote the book titled 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull'. It is a fable written in novella form (longer than a short story but shorter than a novel) about a seagull who is trying to learn about life and flight. It is also a commentary about self-perfection.

Originally Bach wrote it as a series of short stories that were published in 'Flying', an aviation magazine. It appeared in the magazine in the 1960s. Then in 1970, it was first published in book form and in just 2 years over a million copies were in print. He is an American writer who has written numerous works of fiction, and also non-fiction flight-related titles.

The book was illustrated by Russel Munson and published by Macmillan Publishers consisting of 144 pages. In 2014 the book was reissued as 'Jonathan Livingston Seagull: The Complete Edition', which added a 17-page fourth part to the story.

The story unfolds with chapters about a gull's daily squabbles over food, expulsion from the seagull flock, and a meeting with other gulls who help him acquire additional knowledge. There are four parts to the book.

One commentator writes that the book is "an animal fantasy about a philosophical gull who is profoundly affected by flying, but who demands too much of his community and is cast out by it." After being cast out, the gull becomes a wanderer, learns great wisdom, dies, returns to earth, and continues to preach and heal before he returns back to heaven.