Gene Sparling, rock star?

I enjoyed this article from the Chicago Tribune:

The sighting launched headlines from Chicago to Calcutta, sent teams of scientists traipsing to Arkansas, led to more sightings-and turned Sparling into a sort of rock star of the conservation world.

"It's a humbling thing," allowed Sparling, who routinely signs autographs for a half-hour at a time after lectures.

"The most powerful thing for me is that I meet a lot of people that tell me, `When I heard the news, I had to pull the car over to the side of the road, and I cried.' "

I've previously written about Sparling's sighting here.