List of atheists (surnames L to M)

Main article: List of atheists

Atheists with surnames starting L to M, sortable by the field for which they are mainly known and nationality.

	Name	Dates	Known as / for	Who	Reference
	Landis, JohnJohn Landis	1950–	American Film Director	Director of movies such as The Blues Brothers, An American Werewolf in London and Animal House.	"I'm an atheist and I certainly don't believe or care about Satan or Jesus". Stated in a radio interview on BBC 5, 29 Oct 2010.
	Larsson, StiegStieg Larsson	1954–2004	Swedish journalist	Author of the Millennium Trilogy and the founder of the anti-racist magazine Expo. Larsson specificlly requested that no religious ceremonies should be held at his funeral.	"I was an atheist and won't feel any better because of religious ceremonies".
	Laporte, LeoLeo Laporte	1956–	American technology broadcaster, author, and entrepreneur.	Owner and operator of the netcast network, TWiT.tv.	"I'm an atheist. I certainly don't hate Christians, even if I don't share their beliefs. I was a believer at one time - who knows, I may find cause some day to believe again."
	Lee, BruceBruce Lee	1940–1973	Chinese martial artist, actor, and taoist philosopher	Author of books like The Tao of Jeet Kune Do and star of film movies like The Big Boss and Enter the Dragon.	John Little states that Lee was an atheist. When asked in 1972 what his religious affiliation was, he replied "none whatsoever." Also in 1972, when asked if he believed in God, he responded, "To be perfectly frank, I really do not."
	Lee, GeddyGeddy Lee	1953–	Singer	Lead singer and front man of Canadian progressive rock band Rush.	"I consider myself a Jew as a race, but not so much as a religion. I’m not down with religion at all. I’m a Jewish atheist, if that’s possible… I celebrate the holidays in the sense that my family gets together for the holidays and I like being a part of that. So I observe the 'getting together' aspect.
	MacFarlane, SethSeth MacFarlane	1973–	American comedian, actor, writer, producer, singer	Creator of Family Guy, American Dad, The Cleveland Show	"I do not believe in God. I'm an atheist. I consider myself a critical thinker, and it fascinates me that in the 21st century most people still believe in, as George Carlin puts it, 'the invisible man living in the sky' "
	McKellen, Sir IanSir Ian McKellen	1939–	Actor	English actor and gay rights activist.	"I have been reluctant to lobby on other issues I most care about - nuclear weapons (against), religion (atheist), capital punishment (anti), AIDS (fund-raiser) because I don't want to be forever spouting, diluting the impact of addressing my most urgent concern: legal and social equality for gay people worldwide."
	Mao Zedong, Mao Zedong	1893–1976	Politician	Chinese military and political leader, who led the Communist Party of China to victory in the Chinese Civil War, and was the leader of the People’s Republic of China from its establishment in 1949 until his death in 1976. Under his leadership, China officially became an atheist state.	"Mao is not only a historical figure, of course, but is part of the (tattered) web of legitimacy on which the People's Republic rests. He is part of the founding mythology of the Chinese government, the Romulus and Remus of "People's China," and that's why his portrait hangs in Tiananmen Square. Even among ordinary Chinese, Mao retains a hold on the popular imagination, and some peasants in different parts of China have started traditional religious shrines honoring him. That's the ultimate honor for an atheist - he has become a god."

Michael Lewis, best-selling author of Liar's Poker, Moneyball, The Blind Side and The Big Short, self-identified as an atheist in his nonfiction book Boomerang. While researching the book, he speaks with a priest.

Priest asks "But what is your religion?" "I don't have one." "But you believe in God?" "No."

This conversation was also recounted in his Vanity Fair article, which was re-used in the book

References

http://www.vanityfair.com/business/features/2010/10/greeks-bearing-bonds-201010 Michael Lewis, Boomerang, Travels in the New Third World. W.W. Norton and Company, 2011, hardback, ISBN 978-0-393-08181-7, page 58.