In 2013 Richard Bach took up a non-published fourth part of the book which he had written contemporaneously with the original. He edited and polished it, and then sent the result to a publisher. Bach reported that he was inspired to finish the fourth part of the novella by a near-death experience which had occurred in relation to a nearly fatal plane crash in August 2012. In February 2014, the 138-page Bach work "", published as a booklet by Kindle Direct Publishing in February 2014, also contains allusions to and insights regarding the same near-death experience. In October 2014, "Jonathan Livingston Seagull: The Complete Edition," was published, and includes part four of the story.