NEW YORK – Barbara Walters said Monday that retirement from her epochal television career is near, but it’s not happening right away.

Walters, who began in television news as a “Today” girl in 1961, became the medium’s best-known interviewer and invented a daytime talk show, said on “The View” that she will step away from the camera next summer.

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Veteran ABC newswoman Barbara Walters arrives at the Matrix Awards in New York. Walters said Monday on “The View” that she will retire from TV journalism during the summer of 2014. The Associated Press

Before that, her retirement tour will include TV specials looking back at her work.

The announcement brought the 83-year-old Walters to tears.

“In the summer of 2014 I plan to retire from appearing on television at all,” Walters said.

She preceded her announcement with a taped piece outlining career highlights, from her appearance in a Playboy bunny outfit on “Today” to her interview with Syrian President Bashar Assad last year. She mentioned her pride in rising to “Today” co-host and becoming the first woman on a network evening news program, co-anchoring with Harry Reasoner on ABC. Her interviews became her calling card, sitting across from actors and presidents.

When she started “The View” with executive producer Bill Geddies 17 years ago, Walters said she thought it would last a year or two.

‘Today’ co-host Guthrie reports she’s engaged

NEW YORK – Bradley Cooper presented her with a dozen roses on the air but, oddly enough, that isn’t why “Today” show co-host Savannah Guthrie is so happy.

Guthrie reported Monday that her boyfriend, Mike Feldman, had proposed during a tropical vacation, and she said yes. Guthrie and Feldman, a consultant at a strategic communications firm in Washington, have been dating for four years.

Despite a tropical sunset and champagne, she said she didn’t realize what was happening until Feldman handed her the ring.

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