Kim Peek, the genius who inspired Dustin Hoffman’s character in Rain Man, has died from a heart attack at the age of 58. Kim Peek was classed as a “mega-savant” and had memorised 12,000 books, including the entire Bible, but had difficulty with ordinary tasks like getting dressed and combing his hair. His astonishing abilities included being able to read one page of a book with his left eye and the other with his right. It took him just eight seconds to read and remember a page. In 2004 Nasa scientists began studying him using technology designed to assess the effects of space travel on the brain. Mr Peek, who was a Mormon, died in Salt Lake City, Utah. In recent years he also showed an ability to develop and change, even overcoming his literal nature by learning to tell jokes.
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