The Chron reports that Farley cartoon creator Phil Frank, whose retirement was announced a few days ago, died this morning. He was 64. Frank, a longtime resident of Sausalito, had been ill for months with a brain tumor, the Chron says.

The obit notes that when Frank announced his retirement, cards, letters and e-mails poured in, wishing him well, complimenting him on his work, and offering prayers for his recovery. Before he died, Frank wrote this thank-you note to readers. And here are some comments readers left after word of his death was posted at SFGate.com.

His alter ego was a newspaper reporter and sometime park ranger named Farley (left), the central character in his “Farley” comic strip that he once described as “really a horizontal column, documenting the life and times of the characters in the Bay Area.” The Chronicle says it was the only local comic strip in the country. (Photo credit: Kurt Rogers, Chronicle, 2004)