Sentence:  <WSD>Star</WSD> reporter, leg-man, cub, veteran gray in the trade—one and all they tried to pin the Bat like a caught butterfly to the front page of their respective journals—soon or late each gave up, beaten. He was news—...—the brief, staccato recital of his career in the morgues of the great dailies grew longer and more incredible each day. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  An exceptionally talented or famous person, often in a specific field; a celebrity.