Jerry Newport
Jerry Newport is a "late-bloomer," autism-wise. Prior to seeing Rain Man in 1989, he was unaware of autism. Jerry's first wake up call came after he multiplied 4343 by 1234 faster than "Rain Man" responded on screen.
Since 1991, Jerry has been active in the autism community. He served on the Board of Directors of the Autism Society of Los Angeles and its agency, PDH Inc. During that tenure, Jerry founded an AGUA (Adult Gathering, United and Autistic). He and Mary Meinel, who also is a savant with Asperger's Syndrome, met at an AGUA Halloween meeting and they later married.
Jerry and Mary have been the subject of two "60 Minutes" stories and they have inspired a feature motion picture, "Mozart and the Whale" starring Josh Hartnett, due out in 2005.
Jerry wrote a self-help book, "Your Life is Not a Label." Jerry and his wife wrote "Autism, Asperger's and Sexuality" and currently are writing a joint autobiography, "Mozart and the Whale" to come out in 2005.
Jerry and Mary live in