December 3
Joseph Conrad
On this date in 1857, author Joseph Conrad, ne Teodor Jozef Konrad Korzeniowski, was born in Russian-occupied Poland. His father, a writer and poet, was exiled with his family to Russia for working for Polish independence. Joseph's mother died of tuberculosis in 1865, and his father of the same disease in 1869. The teenager went to live with his uncle until signing up as a seaman in the French merchant navy at age 17. His many adventures included gunrunning. He eventually spent 16 years in the British merchant navy, and saw Australia, Malaysia, South America, the Congo and the South Pacific. His eastern travels later became favorite settings for his novels. Conrad became a naturalized British citizen in 1884 and settled down at age 36 to write. Although English was his third language, he wrote in that tongue to great acclaim. His first novel, Almayer's Folly, set in Malaysia, came out in 1895, followed by Lord Jim (1900), the novella Heart of Darkness (1902), Nostromo (1904), The Secret Agent (1907) and many other books. D. 1924.
“The ethical view of the universe involves us at last in so many cruel and absurd contradictions. . . . that I have come to suspect that the aim of creation cannot be ethical at all.”
—Joseph Conrad, Some Reminincences (1912)
Compiled by Annie Laurie Gaylor
© Freedom From Religion Foundation. All rights reserved.
Julianne Moore
On this date in 1960, actress Julianne Moore was born in Fayetteville, N.C. Her mother was a Scottish social worker and her father a military judge. She traveled around the world with her parents, graduating from Frankfurt American High School (Germany) in 1979. Julianne earned her Bachelor of Fine Arts degree from the School of the Performing Arts in Boston University in 1983. After appearing in theater, TV soaps, miniseries and TV movies, she caught directors' eyes when appearing in supporting roles in several movies, including "The Fugitive" (1993). Her breakthrough role was in "Safe" (1995), followed by movies such as "Nine Months" (1995), "Assassins" (1995), "Surviving Picasso (1996) playing Dora Maar, "Boogie Nights" (1997), "Big Lebowski" (1998), "An Ideal Husband" (1999), "Magnolia" (1999), "End of the Affair" (1999), "Evolution" (2001), "The Hours" (2002) and "Far From Heaven" (2002). Moore, who has two children, is a pro-choice advocate who is active with Planned Parenthood. Moore does not believe in God, teling The Hollywood Reporter "I learned when my mother died five years ago that there is no 'there' there. Structure, it's all imposed. We impose order and narrative on everything in order to understand it. Otherwise, there's nothing but chaos." (Jan 28, 2015).
“I didn't think you existed.”
—Julianne Moore (paraphrase), when asked by James Lipton on "Inside the Actors Studio" what she would say to God at the Pearly Gates.
Compiled by Annie Laurie Gaylor; Photo by Dfree, Shutterstock.com
© Freedom From Religion Foundation. All rights reserved.
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