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Go ahead. Test him. Ask him what day he started his job at Mid-West Family Broadcasting in La Crosse. He’ll tell you: May 5, 1986. It was cloudy in the morning but sunny later on. He stopped for a doughnut before work.
What day did Lucille Ball die? April 26, 1989. Williams took his car into the shop that day.
Williams’ memory is so great, in fact, that researchers at the University of California-Irvine are studying him. They think he’s one of only two people in the United States known to have hyperthymesia, or “superior memory.”
Williams, best known as radio reporter for WIZM-AM and Heart of La Crosse actor, has a hidden talent: He can remember exactly what happened on a specific day — in his life and in the world.
That’s one reason why he’s so good at the national satellite trivia game he plays at Howie’s Hof Brau. “I beat the pants off everybody else in the bar,” he said. “I’ve often been at the top of the country, or near the top.”
“He’s literally a walking encyclopedia,” said Keith Carr, morning host of Classic Hits 94.7, who has known Williams for 20 years. “If he’s ever seen it or heard it or tasted it, he’s got it in (his brain). It’s like he’s looking at a computer screen. Instead of brain tissue, maybe he’s got diodes and chips in his head.”
His superhuman memory “seems to be hard-wired,” Williams said. “My brothers say, ‘You must have been hit with a baseball bat when you were 2. How come you can do it and we can’t?’”
Williams believes his gift is genetic — he has had it ever since he can remember.
His younger brother, Eric, who lives in Glendale, Calif., remembers kids riding by on their bicycles, asking Williams, “What’s 99 million times 99 million?”
Eric and his older brother used to quiz Williams using an almanac with a perpetual calendar. They’d tell Williams a date and a year, and Williams would name the day of the week. He was always right, Eric said.
“We never try to remember anything because Brad can remember it,” Eric said. “It’s a running gag, basically. Even if Brad’s not around, we’d just yell, ‘Brad!’ We knew if he was around, he could give us the answer.”
After their dad died in 2000, the three brothers were cleaning out the basement and found an old spiral notebook full of details about a summer vacation the family took in 1965. For fun, the two brothers quizzed Williams on the daily itinerary.
“We were just howling with laughter,” Eric said. Williams, who would’ve been about 8 years old at the time, remembered everything — where they ate, where they stayed, what they saw.
Up until a year ago, Williams figured his gift was special but not particularly rare.
Then Eric read a news story about researchers studying a California woman who often had flashbacks about what she was doing on a particular day years ago.
“That’s Brad,” Eric thought. He contacted the researchers, and a year ago, Williams flew to California for an interview.
“After an hour, they said, ‘We think you’ve got it, too,’” Williams said. They kept him there for four hours, he said, asking him questions.
Having “superior memory” isn’t exactly marketable, Williams said. “One of the frustrating things is having this and not knowing what to do with it,” he said.
Williams is open to writing a book or doing some public speaking, he said, and Eric is shooting a documentary about him.
Williams will return to the university next month for further testing, he said.
A true oddity
Brad Williams is one of two people known to have hyperthymesia, or superior memory. His mind is like a sponge — he can remember exactly what happened on a particular day years ago.
Researchers at the University of California-Irvine are studying him. Their studies could possibly shed light on why people lose their memory and get Alzheimer’s, Williams said.
Brad By the Numbers
Jenny Dolan can be reached at (608) 791-8220 or jdolan@lacrossetribune.com.
