I discovered Tyson from a Beyond Belief seminar held at the Salk Institute in... oh... 2004? 05? I can't remember. But it was a Youtube video that was linked here (or foh rather). In it was Dawkins and Harris and Dennet and Krauss, and all the usual suspects and also there was Tyson who gave THE best speech of them all. Afterward the whole place asked themselves, "Who is the next Carl Sagan? How do we do that again?" Nobody, at the time, had an answer.
About a year later I read Tyson's "Death By Black Hole", rewatched the Salk discussion, and then emailed him directly (the sort of thing I never do) to tell him thathewas the next Carl Sagan. He actually emailed me back and told me he couldn't imagine being paid a higher compliment and that he still had a long way to go to fill Carl's shoes.