Silva, Obed: - Obed Silva was born in Chihuahua, Mexico, and immigrated to the United States as a toddler. After years in the gang lifestyle--which left him paralyzed from the waist down, the result of a gunshot wound--he discovered the power of book learning, earned a master's degree in medieval literature, and is now a respected English professor at East Los Angeles College. The Death of My Father the Pope is his first book.