Long Island fans love Oprah Winfrey

The "Oprah Effect" on Long Islanders? Certainly for some, it has been deep and lasting, and when she leaves today after 25 years, a best friend -- even from the remove of TV -- will be leaving as well.

Winfrey came into viewers' TV lives all those years ago with a simple and at that time reasonably difficult mandate: to unseat the then-king of daytime talk, Phil Donahue, which she did handily. But that was just the first act. For the second, she would go on to create as three-

dimensional a figure as daytime TV -- all of TV, really -- had ever seen. Through her own example and life story, she told viewers how to live -- and buy, think, read, react and feel.

From long familiarity came trust, and from trust came a bond that is about to end. No wonder some of these fans speak of a feeling of loss. As Winfrey's brand of intimacy goes, they are left to wonder what will take its place. Or who, if anyone, could take its place?

Here are a few Long Islanders' reactions to Winfrey's departure, and what she meant to them (Comments have been edited for brevity and clarity.)

SALLY MARZOUK, GREAT NECK

"I'll miss sharing an hour with my close friend every day but, like millions of others, will always be thankful for having had the opportunity to learn so much. She leaves me with the knowledge and confidence to continue to move my life ahead in a positive direction because I now know that 'all things are possible.' Thank you, Oprah!"

RHONDA GLICKMAN,LYNBROOK

"I [for one] am a happier . . . wiser . . . person to have spent 25 years with her!"

PATRICIA SCHAEFER, SOUTH SETAUKET

"After spending years of TV hours with Oprah, one cannot help but start to become the best version of ourselves; to dare to dream; to achieve goals never thought possible."

AMY HARITON, WESTBURY

"She is truly an American hero and certainly my personal hero."

CAROLE BARRIS, BELLMORE

"As a retired teacher of English /language arts, I have to hand it to Oprah. We teachers have spent an untold number of years trying to promote the joys and benefits of reading. . . . I must say that Oprah has probably done more to impact the reading habits of Americans than all the English teachers combined."

ILENE MOORE, GLEN COVE

"I wouldn't label Oprah a 'talk-show diva' since she brought a seriousness to daytime TV that turned people onto learning about subjects outside of themselves and their four walls."

MARGE MATARAZZO, BELLMORE

"I have been watching Oprah for the past 25 years and have come to appreciate my self-worth, my self-respect, my very life because of her."