Kim Peek's Short Story

Kim steps out of the car onto the sidewalk. Crowds swarm around him. Cameras Click and flash. He walks up the steps to the building and people hold the wooden doors for him and his Father Fran. He enters the building traveling down a carpeted hallway. They enter into a room much like a library. There are two chairs. Kim and Fran take a seat. The chairs are big and fluffy. He looks ahead to find a room filled with people sitting in foldup chairs facing him. A man in a dressy outfit comes out and hands Kim a microphone. Someone in the crowd shouts “What day was it December 17th 1974?” Kim purses the microphone against his lips. Then quickly and confidently replied “Tuesday.”

Kim Peek was born November 11, 1951 in Utah. Kim's head was 30% bigger

than normal. Doctors quickly discovered Kim had damage to the left side of his brain due to a blister inside his skull. The left side of the brain controls communication and motor skills. Not many years after being born doctors kept pushing for his parents to institutionalize him, which his parents immediately declined. Kim proceed to live a cushioned life with no one else but his family aware of his incredible abilities. Kim was soon sent to a public school to be expelled for being disruptive to the class. At the age of 7 Kim received part time tutoring and finished high school curriculum at the age of 14. In 1981 Kim's parents divorced leaving father Fran to care for Kim for his whole life. Having to help Kim with the simplest of task including dressing, shaving, and brushing his teeth. Kim had memorized so many things that him and his father had to stop attending plays and musical performances because Kim would stand up and rectify the actors or musicians.

Kim was blessed with outstanding learning abilities.

Kim and his father spent most days in libraries leading Kim to finish thousands of books. Around the age of a year and a half Kim could read 2 pages in 10 seconds using his right eye for the right page and his left eye stimulus reading the left page. Kim continued to use this technique till his death in 2009. His most well known ability was memorization. He could read a bulky book in an hour and remember close to everything in it. His state practically made him a walking encyclopedia and gps. Kim also liked to read phone books. He would memorize phone numbers and addresses. One of his infamous party tricks was to tell stagers their old neighbors from many years ago. One of Kim's many accomplishments was a movie based on him. The movie is called The Rain Man. The film is about Charlie a self centered man who kidnaps his brother Raymond out of an institution to take him on an adventure of a lifetime as a threat to get the 3 million dollar inheritance from their father. The whole road trip lead them to understanding each other. The film helped Kim make many friends and receive the high school diploma he was denied many years ago. Another achievement of Kim's was his public lecture tours. Kim and his father Fran went to places informing students, prisoners, and politicians of the necessity of treating people equally. These talks were also for Kim to signify his astonishing memory, including his remarkable comprehension of

calendars ageing back to more than 2,000 years ago.

Kim is one out of 6 incredible savants. He has left a mark on science and has shown the the would that the impossible is truly possible. Well doing the impossible Kim continuously spread a good message.