Almost 20 years since “Rain Man” won four Oscars, the film is still impacting young and old. Recently, an event at the Salt Lake City Main Library proved that. In early 2009, film fans filled the theater to see the real ‘Rain Man’ Kim Peek, his father Fran, and ‘Rain Man’ screenwriter Barry Morrow celebrate 20 years of the ‘Rain Man’ and increased awareness of autism and other disabilities, mental and physical. The event was hosted by Stephen Carnegie, art savant and owner of Carnegie Entertainment. Highlighting the triumphs of individuals with disabilities, the afternoon was filled with stories about individuals like Nick Scott, a wheelchair bodybuilder who was paralyzed in a high school car crash, and Bill Sackter, a gentle adult with mental disabilities who was institutionalized for the majority of his life.

A beautiful and inspiring event, the Rain Man 20th Anniversary celebration was designed to bring awareness back to mental illness as well as to let the audience and the world know how much individuals with mental and physical disabilities can do with their unique sensibilities. Carnegie himself is leading the cause by not only spearheading the event, but also creating a children’s book series geared at helping children with disabilities. Kim Peek summed up the evening by saying,”Learning to recognize and respect differences in others and treat them as much as you want them to treat you will make this a better world to live in… You don’t have to be handicapped to be different. Everybody’s different.”

You can find out more about the Real Rain Man and Stephen Carnegie at Celebrity Voice.