THE REAL RAINMAN

THE REAL RAINMAN
In 1980 my wife and I embarked upon an unusual adventure for us. We determined to enroll in a “brain symposium” in Cedar City, Utah. We had never done anything like that, but the lure of the renowned Utah Shakespearean Festival weighted the scale for our participation. During those days, exploration of the human brain was a new frontier, and the thesis that there were two hemispheres with different functions was revolutionary. We read voraciously and reported to each other on our findings. It was exhilarating and exciting. During that conference, I met Kim Peak?? For the first time. It is Kim’s life upon which, with some poetic license, The Rainman is based starring Dustin Hoffman. Kim’s devoted father Fran introduced us. I judged Kim to be about my age. Kim asked where we lived. I told him the upper west side of New York City. After a moment of looking at the ground and slightly rocking on his feet he said, “Your phone number is 212-580...” He was right! I was astonished and a bit unnerved. Fran chuckled and said, “don’t be alarmed, Kim likes numbers.” He went on to explain that Kim loves to look at phone books. He is drawn to the order with which they are laid out. Fran went on to explain why that is the reason Kim loves music. Music is the epitome of order. Our paths have crossed a number of times since then, I have never ceased to be amazed at how Kim’s profound genius in matters of music and order supercede his challenges in dealing with normal life. Those tasks which are second nature to us like tying shoes, dressing, and writing are very difficult and nigh unto impossible. Yet, the high level processing of music and ordering is in prodigy proportion. I have had fun playing “stump Kim” on the piano keyboard under the stress of doing it before hundreds of people, and have never found a piece of music of a serious nature (classical) music that Kim cannot recognize in a matter of a few bars. His ability to store and catagorize music is astonishing. Kim clearly possesses that 8th form of learning referred to by Dr. Howard Gardner in his “Theory of Multiple Intelligences” published in The Frame of Mind in 1985. It is the Naturalist ability to recognize and name natural things, cultural artifacts (cars, plants, shoes, dinosaurs, songs) I feel so honored to call Kim a friend and witness first hand the wondrous capacity of the human spirit.