David Rich grew up on a ranch in Colorado. His dad introduced him to tractors and cattle, and his mother to music and travel. He toured the country with an amazing group of fellow misfits in the fighting 529th Air Force Band, attended the University of Colorado in Boulder and the University of Chicago Law School. By some fluke he began practicing law in Phoenix with Lewis and Roca, the firm that handled the Miranda case (which he had nothing to do with). After a stint as a law professor, David tried private practice but found the cushy job of assistant attorney general more to his liking. His appointment as judge pro tem by the Maricopa County Superior Court was a resounding success because attorneys immediately settled any case to which he was assigned.

He retired in his 40s to become a sailing captain, pilot, and full-time traveler, living in almost every country on the planet while writing dozens of travel stories. Myths of the Tribe, When Religion and Ethics Diverge (Prometheus Books 1993) examined the influence of organized religion on ethics, 2nd ed. 2019. RV the World, 2nd ed., 2018, combines his seventeen-years RVing the world with how anyone can do it. In 2019 David wrote The ISIS Affair, a satire on religion and nationalism in Syria subtitled Putting the Fun Back in Fundamentalism, and Scribes of the Tribe, Our greatest Thinkers on Religion and Ethics. He published Antelopes, A Modern Gulliver’s Travels, in 2020 and Sail the World?, the prequel to RV the World, in October 2021.