‘Seagull’ author Bach speaking

Writer Richard Bach, author of the inspirational best-seller “Jonathan Livingston Seagull,” is able to speak a few words and respond to simple commands as he remains hospitalized in intensive care more than a week after his small plane went down in Washington state.

Bach, 76, continued to recover from head and shoulder injuries Sunday at Harborview Medical Center in Seattle, but the healing process has been slow, his son said in an email.

James Bach described his father as in “sort of a daze” from the Aug. 31 accident in which his small plane flipped over after hitting power lines.

“Actually I’m learning that consciousness is not an all or nothing thing,” James Bach said. “Although he can say a few words and respond to simple commands, he does not seem to know why he’s in the hospital. It’s possible that, at any moment, he may snap into lucidity.”

Shortly after the crash, family members believed he already was lucid, but that turned out not to be the case. “My sister has since spent some time with him and we think we have a much better idea of how he is,” the younger Bach said.