He could speed-through an entire book in about an hour and remember almost everything he had read, memorizing vast amounts of information on subjects ranging from history and literature, geography and numbers to sports, music and dates.

[7] Peek lived in Murray, Utah, and spent a considerable amount of his time reading at the Salt Lake City Library and demonstrating his capabilities at schools, with great help from his father.

[12] During his adult life, Peek attended the Columbus Center, earning $40 a week completing payrolls for 86 employees of the Salt Lake City School District.

[14] In 1984, screenwriter Barry Morrow met Peek in Arlington, Texas; the result of the meeting was the 1988 Academy Award-winning film Rain Man.

Dustin Hoffman, who portrayed Babbitt in the film, met Peek and other individuals that displayed savant mannerisms, studying their characteristics and nature in order to play the role as accurately as possible.

[11][15] Barry Morrow put his own Oscar statuette on permanent loan to Salt Lake City in memory of Kim Peek and put forward the money for the Peek Award, which "pays tribute to artists, media makers, and film subjects who are positively impacting our society's perception of people with disabilities" and is given out by the Utah Film Center.