"Rain Man" dies at 58.

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Eternal_Saber
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21 Dec 2009, 11:22 pm

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/entertainmen ... n-man-dies

Quote:

US man who inspired Rain Man dies

A relative says Kim Peek, the man who inspired the title character in the Oscar-winning movie Rain Man, has died. He was 58.

Fran Peek says his son had a heart attack on Saturday and was pronounced dead at a hospital in the Salt Lake City suburb of Murray.

Peek was a savant with a remarkable memory. Fran Peek says his son could read a book just once and memorise it.

Kim Peek inspired Barry Morrow when he wrote Rain Man, the movie that won four Academy Awards, including best actor for Dustin Hoffman, who played the title role.

CockneyRebel
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22 Dec 2009, 6:10 am

And a good life it was. He's in a much better place, now. A place where everyone will accept him.

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AnnePande
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22 Dec 2009, 8:59 am

I heard it in the radio this morning. The speaker said that Kim Peek had died, and that his name might be unknown to most people. I thought, why is it then that I think that name is familiar?
Then she said that he was the one the Rain Man character was formed from.
I thought: Oh, I see! I must have read about him on WP! :lol:

Jkid
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25 Dec 2009, 1:57 am

I read about him once in a tabloid. Can't beleve he's gone.

May he Rest in Peace with Dignity.

fauxpow
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25 Dec 2009, 1:39 pm

RIP Ken. So sorry that you were misdiagnosed for so long and couldn't join the rest of your "family" here.

AnnieK
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26 Dec 2009, 8:51 am

While Rainman is about someone with autism, Kim Peek himself was not autistic, though it seems they initially thought he was. I think the reason for this is because his social skills were quite good. He was born with something called FB Syndrome I think which resulted in brain deformities (complete lack of connections between left and right parts of this brain) and his abilities came from his brain finding ways to work around the problems, Which is quite ironic considering the people that complain that they wish everyone wouldn't think that everyone with autism was like Rainman!

http://www.deseretnews.com/article/7053 ... .html?pg=1

Quote:

Much of what scientists learned about Kim came in recent years and they on occasion revised what they believed about him. For example, they discovered he was not autistic. Scientists also learned that Kim could hold a book within eight inches of his face and read the left page with his left eye, the right with his right eye at the same time. He devoured books that way.

Whatever syndrome he had, he was a pretty unique individual with a warm heart. RIP Kim!

richardbenson
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26 Dec 2009, 6:59 pm

oh jeez, thats sad.

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LolaGranola
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02 Jan 2010, 11:54 am

I didn't hear about this. Sad.

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Maddino87
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02 Jan 2010, 7:02 pm

From TIME Magazine's Milestones page (I had to type this up)

Quote:

When Kim Peek was 9 months old, doctors pronounced him so mentally ret*d that he would never walk or talk. One physician suggested he be institutionalized; another later recommended a lobotomy. Peek, who died of a heart attack Dec. 19 at 58, was indeed riven by disabilities throughout his life. Born without a corpus callosum - the nerve tissue that connects the brain's hemispheres - he never learned to brush his hair or button his shirt without help.
But buried beneath these afflictions was a mighty intellect unique in the world. Peek was a so-called megasavant, a man with such dazzling recall that he seemed to have ingested encyclopedias whole. He could read both facing pages of a book - one with each eye - in seconds and could instantly tell you everything from the day of the week for a bygone date to esoteric facts about sports history or Shakespeare's canon.
In 1984, Peek's skills floored screenwriter Barry Morrow and helped inspire Dustin Hoffman's davant character in the Oscar-winning drama Rain Man. Peek became an overnight star and spent the rest of his life showcasing his gifts to more than 64 million people. Had he chosen to, he might have memorized every name.
-By Alex Altman

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