It's little wonder that watchers of CBS's "Survivor" voted to give Rupert Boneham $1 million in an all-star version of the contest a couple of years ago.

Even over the phone, this bearded, tie-dye-wearing bear of a man emanates the down-to-earth warmth of a guy who didn't let hard times steal his joy.

Tomorrow, folks will get to see that glow in person at a 2 p.m. book signing at the Borders in Bethel Park for his newly published memoir, "Rupert: Just Being Me."

"This is my first book," he explained. "After I played on two 'Survivors,' my whole world kind of changed."

Referred to by most as just plain Rupert, Boneham, 43, was a contestant on "Suvivor: Pearl Island" and quickly became an audience favorite. While he didn't win the top prize that time around, he was chosen by viewers as the winner of a subsequent all-star "Survivor," which host Jeff Probst called America's tribal council.

"I started [writing] soon after 'Survivor,' after I created all my companies," he said.

But he didn't get too far in the writing process. It was his work with a 48-year-old veteran who was in an out of a diabetic coma because of his drinking that prompted Boneham to get serious on his memoir.

"He told me I didn't understand what he was going through," he said.

But the reality-show winner did.

"I dealt with alcoholism and drug addiction, living under a bridge, having to hit rock bottom before I ever saw a way out," he said.

The book delves into his unhappy childhood of under-achievement and undiagnosed dyslexia, among other things. His father, a college professor, and mother, a high school chemistry teacher, couldn't understand, he said, why he wasn't doing well in school.

While he is very close with his mother now, he said, the book shows that everyone makes mistakes, even parents.

"When my daughter grows up, there's going to be things in her life that I didn't do right, and I know that."

Through his Ruperts Kids Inc., based in Indiana, he continues efforts to help youngsters who find themselves foundering. "In 1990, I found the juvenile court system was full of kids that were dealing with the same things I was dealing with," he said. After securing his daughter's educational fund and helping his family, Boneham said he has put a lot of his new-found wealth winnings into "his kids."

When asked about the first "Survivor" winner, Richard Hatch, he did not have nice words for the guy who now sits in a Morgantown, W.Va., prison for tax evasion.

"He is a game player that thinks he can play games with everything and everyone and the IRS," Boneham said. He added that Hatch had reneged on a fund-raising appearance for Boneham's mentoring program, which accepts no government aid, saying Hatch wanted an upgraded plane ticket.

Boneham said that's money he could have used for his kids.

He does concede there's some value in a little luxury. One of the coolest things about his book tour is the giant motor coach provided by Best Buy that he's using to travel, he said.

"I'm trying to get it tie-dyed," he said, "but I don't know about that."

More information on Boneham's book signing: Borders, 412-835-5583.