Kim Peek, the original Rain Man, dies

Kim Peek, the autistic savant who inspired the Oscar-winning film Rain Man, has died, aged 58.

Mr Peek’s father Fran said that his son had suffered a major heart attack on Saturday and was pronounced dead at a hospital in Salt Lake City, Utah, the town where he had spent his life.

Mr Peek was probably the world’s most famous savant. Described as a confounding mixture of disability and genius, his astonishing ability to retain knowledge inspired the writer Barry Morrow to write Rain Man, the 1988 movie starring Dustin Hoffman that won four Academy Awards.

Born in 1951 in Salt Lake city, Mr Peek was diagnosed as severely mentally retarded and his parents were advised to place him in an institution and forget about him. Thirty years later, he was classified as a “mega-savant,” a genius in about 15 different subjects, from history and literature and geography to numbers, sports, music and dates.

By the time of his death he had committed more than 9,000 books to memory and Nasa made him the subject of MRI-based research, hoping that technology used to study the effects of space travel on the brain would help explain his mental capabilities.

Full Article

I understand you don’t have to watch all these videos, but if you can make time to watch this first one, I think you find it well worth your time.

Posted in Interesting, Touching | Comments Off on Kim Peek, the original Rain Man, dies

Nobel Prize with every oil change

12-21-2009.NMC_21sterling.GQT2O7J5S.1In Rockwall County, a place known for its conservative politics, one mechanic is getting a lot of attention for his latest promotion: a Nobel Peace Prize, free with every oil change.

The offer, which pokes fun at President Barack Obama’s recent Nobel Prize win, sits on a 4-by-10-foot sign in front of Horizon Auto Center on the outskirts of Rockwall.

Owner Ken Sterling says that since he put it there, response has been overwhelming. A photo of the sign was posted online and has gone viral, appearing on blogs, conservative Web sites and Twitter feeds.

“We’ve had more than 400 calls and e-mails,” Sterling said, adding that only two callers thought the sign was in poor taste.

Conservatives and others have been critical of Obama’s winning the award, saying he won it in his first year of office before he accomplished anything substantial. (In Oslo, Norway, Obama said he accepted the award as a call to action.)

In Rockwall County, Obama critics are easy to find.

The county is home to some of North Texas’ most ardent Tea Party Patriots, and it was home to multiple Tea Party events the last several months.

Full Article

Posted in DFW, Political | Comments Off on Nobel Prize with every oil change