As I write this early Friday afternoon, 827 people have left compliments and well wishes on Robert Feder’s Facebook announcement that he is ending his daily blog after 42 years covering the Chicago media.

That’s 827 and counting. I’m sure the number will be into four figures by the time you receive this.

In addition, 3,800 Facebook users have clicked “likes” of one sort or another on the post. And 112 people have shared the news on their own Facebook pages -- where all of those posts are generating comments, likes and shares too.

And that’s just Facebook. There’s Twitter too. And Feder’s announcements on dailyherald.com and robertfeder.com.

How in the next several days he will be able to get a moment to take a breath, I don’t know.

Robert Feder is that beloved. And deservedly so.

Gary Deeb, the guy he assisted and then replaced on the media beat at the Sun-Times four decades ago, was a different kind of media reporter. He made his living as a critic excoriating people, sometimes deservedly, sometimes hurtfully, sometimes delightfully. I’m not knocking Deeb. He was a pioneer and turned himself into a must-read personality. I’m just saying what Feder did with that role is different.

Feder was a pioneer too. He shared insights. He had opinions. But the bread and butter of what he has done has been to report.

With accuracy, fairness and understanding. And I should add, with hustle, tenacity and humility.

He became a personality too. But it has been the amazing breadth of his reporting that made him that, not any swagger. If you wanted to know what was happening in Chicago media, you had to read Feder. He usually had it first.

As our old sports columnist Barry Rozner wrote in the Facebook comment he left on Friday, “No one has ever covered media better than this reporter, but it was his decency, honesty and integrity that set Rob apart. He respected the rules of journalism and in turn was given great respect.”

When we finally were able to bring Feder to the Daily Herald five years ago, it was the culmination of an on-again, off-again recruiting effort that had gone back quite some time.

We all were delighted when he joined us. And it’s been such an honor and a pleasure to work with him. I cannot begin to tell you how much. He’s a legendary journalist, but more important than that, he’s a genuinely good and warm person.

I feel that way, but I’m hardly alone in feeling it. Almost everyone who knows Feder feels the same.

I and so many others will miss his daily posts. But we look forward to the contributions he will find other ways to make in the years ahead. As I said in my Facebook comment, I’m sure he will make them with the same courage, passion, honesty and curiosity that have been hallmarks of his career.

As always, thank you for your support.