Kim Peek was an American savant and motivational speaker, best known for inspiring actor Dustin Hoffman’s character, Raymond Babbitt, in the Academy Award-winning 1988 movie Rain Man. Kim was born with a condition known as macrocephaly, meaning his brain was abnormally large. Though he was initially thought to be autistic, later research confirmed his condition to be FG syndrome. Though his condition hindered his growth and motor abilities, he soon proved himself to be savant who could read and memorize entire books, maps, and calendars within a few minutes. His exceptional memory was attributed to the lack of the nerve bundle known as the corpus callosum, which connects the two hemispheres of the brain. After the release of Rain Man, which was loosely based on his life, Kim became a celebrity of sorts, appearing on TV shows, in documentaries, and at events, mostly talking about making the world more receptive toward disable people. Kim died of a heart attack in 2009, but his life continues to inspire people to this day.
