KIM PEEK, the real Rain Manwhose almost unimaginable powers of memory were coupled with severe disabilities and who inspired the Oscar-winning film role played by Dustin Hoffman, has died of a heart attack in his home town of Salt Lake City, aged 58.
Peek has been called a “mega-savant” for his ability to memorise to the word up to 12,000 books, including the Bible and the Book of Mormon. He could read two pages in about 10 seconds – the right page with his right eye and the left simultaneously with his left eye.
He knew phone books by heart, and could tell you what day of the week a particular date fell upon, going back decades. One of his party tricks was to tell strangers the names of the people who used to live next door to them years ago. He had severe disabilities, and relied on his father for help in dressing and brushing his hair.
Peek was born on November 11th, 1951, with damage to the cerebellum, in which the corpus callosum, nerves connecting the sides of the brain, are largely missing.
At the age of two, his severe disabilities almost landed him for life in an asylum. In those days his condition was known as idiot savantand considered best treated in mental institutions.
He was seen by a neurologist who famously could spare only five minutes as he was on his way to golf, and who concluded the infant Kim would never be able to speak or learn and should be taken out of society. – (Guardian service)