Kim Peek: The Case That Inspired The Rain Man Story

Kim Peek’s fascinating case reminds us that human beings are wonderfully different from each other, and that the good and the bad, the best and the worst are relative concepts in the world in which we live.

The entire planet learned about this through the famous movie Rain Man, which portrayed part of his talent and tragedy.

Kim Peek, the real Rain Man, inspired the film’s script and the story’s central topics. However, his real life was very different from what was shown in the film. This production was a milestone in the history of cinema, but also in the existence of the character who inspired it.

Kim Peek’s story is perhaps more fascinating than Rain Man’s. It is estimated that more than two million people have sought him out to interact with him.

Several documentaries were also made about his case, and even NASA wanted to know in detail who this sweet man was who inspired one of the best films of the 20th century.

Kim Peek: a “mental retard”?

The diagnosis Kim Peek received when he was born in 1951 was mentally retarded. He came into the world with a disability, so the doctors advised him to be admitted to a specialized center.

His family did not agree with the advice. They wanted Kim with them and they kept it that way. Kim Peek had macrocephaly and that meant he would not complete his physical and mental development.

His brain was excessively large and lacking the corpus callosum, an area that connects the two hemispheres. Therefore, the prognosis for his life was unfavorable.

However, Kim’s parents realized that their son was special in many ways. At just a year and a half old, he was already able to memorize every book they read to him. It was an amazing skill they didn’t know how to manage.

Kim Peek’s Wonderful Brain

Kim Peek’s parents noticed that the boy memorized the entire books. They only needed to read it once for this phenomenon to occur. When he read a book himself, he put it aside and never consulted it again. He no longer needed this: he had memorized everything.

At just three years old, he learned to look up the dictionary. I read the meanings and memorized them. It is said that, in total, he memorized a staggering 9,000 books.

He was able to read one page with his right eye and the other with his left eye. He also did this at a very fast pace: he completed two pages in just 10 seconds.

In addition, Kim was able to perform complex mathematical operations in record time. He would take the phone book and add up the numbers in a column in seconds, just for his own entertainment.

So when he grew up, he was able to do the total accounting for a company without the help of a calculator or paper.

a beautiful life

Unlike Rain Man in the movie, Kim was an affectionate person. He enjoyed social contact and responded with understanding and affection to everyone who approached him.

Although his memory was gifted, he could not draw conclusions from his readings or apply his mathematical knowledge to activities other than calculation.

However, he also had several motor problems. He walked after the age of 4 and reached adulthood without being able to button his shirt or tie his shoes.

Rain Man screenwriter Barry Morrow met him by chance at an event about people with special limitations and potential. Morrow had already made a movie about this subject, but was surprised to meet Kim.

This led him to write the script for Rain Man. Dustin Hoffman, who played the character, also met Kim and expressed his admiration on several occasions. Therefore, he  publicly thanked you for your contribution when he won the Oscar for his performance in this film.

Kim Peek was also hit with fame. His father said that this had a positive influence on his life, as it allowed him to be in contact with others like never before.

This wonderful man, who came into the world to teach us a lot about human paradoxes, died of a cardiorespiratory arrest in 2009, aged 58.