The author Rudolfo Anaya has died at the age of 82 in New Mexico. He was known as the “godfather of Chicano literature” in part for his landmark 1972 novel, “Bless Me, Ultima.” Despite being one of the most influential Chicano novels, the book has been repeatedly banned by school districts in Arizona and elsewhere. Anaya once asked, “What is it about literature that makes people fearful?” In 2015, President Obama awarded Rudolfo Anaya the National Humanities Medal.