Fascinating story. The youtube vid is worth watching.



Man who inspired Rain Man dies

Posted 23 minutes ago
Updated 18 minutes ago
Inspiration behind Rain Man: Kim Peek (Supplied: file photo)

The man who inspired the 1988 Oscar-winning movie Rain Man died in Utah on Saturday of a heart attack, US media reported.
Kim Peek, 58, had mental handicaps but could memorise and recite huge amounts of information on various topics.
Mr Peek had committed 9,000 books to memory and NASA made him the subject of MRI-based research.
His death has been reported by the Salt Lake Tribune and ABC America.
The character portrayed by Dustin Hoffman in Rain Man was based in large part on Mr Peek, and he gained international attention after the movie premiered.
After the movie's release Mr Peek became a popular public speaker, travelling the world to address millions of people.
In recent weeks he had suffered from an upper respiratory infection, according to his father, Fran Peek.