He never had superior intelligence growing up, it's something he trained really hard for. And I actually read his books and audio CDs a few years ago, and competed in one of these memory championships myself. At the peak of my training, I was able to memorize a pack of cards in order in under 2 minutes.
Also sort of similar is the story of eight-time World Memory Champion, Dominic O'Brien - http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dominic_O%27Brien
http://www.real-memory-improvement.com/dominic-obrien.html
He never had superior intelligence growing up, it's something he trained really hard for. And I actually read his books and audio CDs a few years ago, and competed in one of these memory championships myself. At the peak of my training, I was able to memorize a pack of cards in order in under 2 minutes.