Celebrity Valerie Harper Has Terminal Brain Cancer "I don't think of dying – I think of being here now, the Rhoda actress, who has as little as three months left, tells PEOPLE By Michelle Tauber Michelle Tauber Michelle Tauber is an Executive Editorial Director at PEOPLE, overseeing Lifestyle (Parents, Health, Home, Travel, Food, Pets), Style & Beauty, Royals, Weddings and Politics. She was previously the founding Senior Editor of Royals at PEOPLE and PEOPLE's first and only Head Writer. People Editorial Guidelines and Johnny Dodd Johnny Dodd Johnny Dodd is a senior writer at PEOPLE, who focuses on human interest, crime and sports stories. People Editorial Guidelines Published on March 6, 2013 07:00AM EST Valerie Harper is facing a devastating diagnosis: terminal brain cancer. The television icon – beloved for her role as brash New Yorker Rhoda Morgenstern on The Mary Tyler Moore Show and its spin-off, Rhoda – received the news on Jan. 15, she reveals to PEOPLE in this week’s exclusive cover interview. A battery of tests revealed she has leptomeningeal carcinomatosis, a rare condition that occurs when cancer cells spread into the fluid-filled membrane surrounding the brain. Her doctors say she has as little as three months left to live. Resolved to face her last days with courage and humor, “I don’t think of dying,” says the actress, 73, who previously battled lung cancer in 2009. “I think of being here now.” For more from Valerie, including her thoughts upon receiving the crushing news, how she is spending her remaining time and her inspirational outlook, pick up this week’s issue of PEOPLE, on newsstands Friday Valerie Harper’s Rare Cancer Explained Celebrating Rhoda: Her Best TV Moments