Kim Peek has died from a heart attack according to the Salt Lake Tribune and the Associated Press. Kim Peek was the inspiration for Dustin Hoffman's character in the movie 'Rain Man'. Kim's constant companion and caregiver was his father Fran Peek who took him on speaking engagements and essentially shared Kim's amazing memory with the world. Kim Peek was 58. ...

I could not let the moment pass without sharing one of my favorite videos. Kim Peek is featured at the 24:15 mark. The entire video is actually quite interesting and features Daniel Tammet, who is also a savant with an amazing memory in addition to amazing math skills. Tammet's obsession and intuitive understanding of mathamatics leads him to recite PI to over 27,000 decimal places. Tammet is able to function independently, in social situations, and generally describe how it is that he thinks. The ability to socialize and describe how he thinks has fascinated psychologists who are eager to meet him. I found the strong contrast between Peek and Tammet to be quite interesting.