John H. Livingston the age of 76. Livingston was inducted into the Iowa aviation Hall of Fame in 1995. His Waco taperwing has been donated to the EAA AirVenture Museum in Oshkosh, Wisconsin where it has been restored. John Livingston is considered to be the inspiration and namesake for the book and film "Jonathan Livingston Seagull" by author and pilot Richard Bach. Livingston-Betsworth Field, as well as the fixed-based operator at the Waterloo, Iowa municipal airport, are named in his honor. John H. Livingston John H. Livingston (1897–1974) was an American aviator and air race pilot of the 1920s and 1930s. Livingston placed
Jonathan Livingston Seagull you really want to do it well it takes a bit of practice, but it's a nice-looking thing, don't you think?" "It's, it's...beautiful, is what it is! But you haven't been around the Flock at all. Who are you, anyway?" "You can call me Jon." Jonathan Livingston Seagull is named after John H. Livingston, a Waco Aircraft Company test pilot who died of a heart attack at 76 just after test flying an acrobatic home-built Pitts Special. The book was rejected by several publishers before coming to the attention of Eleanor Friede at Macmillan in 1969. She convinced Macmillan to