KATHIE LEE GIFFORD

I’ve never considered retiring. I’m refiring.

The singer-songwriter, director and former Today co-host, 67, draws from her personal experience in her new book, It’s Never Too Late: Make the Next Act of Your Life the Best Act of Your Life (Dec. 1). In it she shares her hard-earned wisdom and inspiration for women who are embarking upon their own major life changes.

What was your inspiration for It’s Never Too Late? I’d been gone from Today for a year and a half, and [I decided] it was never too late for me to dust off the dreams I’d had as a child. I didn’t want to do a how-to book; I’m just a person who’s lived a long time and had a myriad of extraordinary experiences. I want to share those in a way that helps other people find strength or courage or a can-do attitude, which they’ve been afraid of embracing because it’s scary.

How scary was it to move to Nashville by yourself? Everybody has said, “You were so brave,” and I said, “No, I was dying of loneliness.” There’s a difference between being lonely and alone. I have been crushingly lonely at times, but I have never been alone. God is with me every nanosecond.

You also write that Frank [Gifford, her late husband] was your great love so far. Are you open to finding love again? I’ve always been open to love in any way it comes into my life. I can’t live without love. You can breathe, you can exist, but you can’t live without it. I could live without romance; I don’t want to—I’m a very passionate woman. I’m open to it, but I’m not actively looking for it.