Every college campus turns out a surprising range of notables, and Loyola Marymount is no exception: Laker Andrew Bynum, attorneys Mark Geragos, Robert Shapiro and Johnnie Cochran, even Gilligan's Island's Bob Denver and Facts of Life's Mindy Cohn. But this prestigious campus is the largest Roman Catholic university on the West Coast, so it's no surprise that it had a hand in schooling L.A.'s most acclaimed Catholic, Father Gregory Boyle . As the founder and executive director of Homeboy Industries, the largest gang intervention program in the county, Father Greg has seen it all. It started in 1992 with his idea to create an environment in which rival gang members would work side by side, getting on-the-job experience working in a bakery. The endeavor blossomed into Homeboy Industries, where young people can learn skills in landscaping, maintenance, silkscreening, merchandising, catering and restaurant service at the nonprofit organization's multiple job-training centers. Father Greg's presence in this city is unparalleled in terms of his selfless devotion to those who, to get biblical, have been forsaken. Tonight he returns to his alma mater to talk with Ruben Martinez about his life and new book, Tattoos on the Heart, a series of essays about his work in the barrio. Talk about your staff of life. He's the real deal.

Tue., Sept. 14, 6 p.m., 2010

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