John Feinstein’s editor Dan Steinberg provides thoughtful, nuanced tribute: ‘He captured something…that resonated’

In the wake of someone’s passing, many comments tend to reflect them at their best without diving into any complicating factors. But people are complicated, and a fuller treatment can have its own merits.

That was shown with a X thread Friday on John Feinstein, the famed Washington Post sports columnist who passed at 69 Thursday, from Post digital sports editor Dan Steinberg (known for decades of work there in a variety of capacities, including the D.C. Sports Bog):

While Steinberg’s thread there is just one of many tributes to Feinstein, it particularly resonates for showing the positives and negatives of working with him, and still coming to a positive conclusion on what he brought to the sportswriting world.

Feinstein was a complicated figure, and his approaches and takes didn’t always work out, and didn’t always resonate with everyone. But he still accomplished an incredible amount, and his work still meant a lot to a lot of people. The synthesis Steinberg provides here of Feinstein’s various aspects is worthwhile, and it helps illustrate why he mattered.

Update: This post initially had Feinstein as 68 rather than 69 due to an error in the Post’s obituary for him. It’s been updated. We regret the error.