“I took 500 rolls of film” he recalled as he chatted with a visitor in his St. Helena studio.

“Only 15,000 photos,” he added and laughed. “They probably ran 25 with the story. A terrible average when you think about it.”

But even as O’Rear and Larkin get back to work on a new Napa Valley book, his thoughts are caught up with the magnitude of the number of viewers which, he admits, no one can confirm or deny.

“Photographers like to become famous for pictures they created,” he said. “I didn’t ‘create’ this. I just happened to be there at the right moment and documented it. If you are Ansel Adams and you take a particular picture of Half Dome and want the light a certain way, you manipulate the light. He was famous for going into the dark room and burning and dodging. Well, this is none of that.”

But times are changing. The rolling hills are now planted in grapevines and Microsoft has come out with a new program, Windows 7, which has its own distinctive wallpaper.

“I sure would have liked to have sold them another photo,” O’Rear said in a wistful tone. “But I think this is one that will be recognized by more people on the planet than any other photograph. People may still remember it when I’m dead and gone. It will probably be mentioned in my obituary.”