A Survivor Comes to Tonic

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EDITOR'S NOTE: Fresh from a 20-day stay in the hospital, after nearly a year spent battling a rare (and resilient) form of Hodgkin's lymphoma, Survivor: Africa winner and Grassroot Soccer visionary Ethan Zohn is back on his feet — and, we're extremely proud to announce, is joining the Tonic team.

As he continues his pre-cancer path of supporting philanthropic endeavors all over the globe, you'll find Ethan here every single week, sharing columns, interviews, blog posts and video reports designed to entertain, enlighten, inspire and amuse.

I hope you'll join us in welcoming Ethan to Tonic.

How does one introduce himself to the world? Let me rephrase that: How does one re-introduce himself to the world?

The funny thing is, I've never had the opportunity to properly announce myself to the general public on my own terms. For a number of years, large TV corporations and myriad tabloid magazines have had the honor of doing that. So this moment in time, right here, right now, is an epic occasion in my life. A unique opportunity to unveil myself in any way that I want, to a community where I feel like I belong.

The Tonic community.

The question is: How do I find the words to tell Tonic readers who I really am?

I could try an intro through haiku:

soccer lunatic. Industrial fruit juicer. Mad philanthropist.

Perhaps an intro via tweet from @EthanZohn will suffice: "Hello my name is Ethan Zohn and I love to crush cancer, invent new products and dream big."

Go figure, I can't even fill out my 140 character allotment.

Wikipedia appears to be the panacea for accurate information these days, and maybe I should let them compose this new beginning.

"Ethan Zohn (born November 12, 1973, Lexington, Massachusetts) is an American reality television series contestant who won $1,000,000 on Survivor: Africa. After winning Survivor he co-founded Grassroot Soccer,[1] which leverages soccer in order to raise money and awareness to fight HIV/AIDS."

Thanks to the creation of the built-in laptop camera, I figured out how to generate the following video message re-introducing my big bald self. Barely. (Warning: a flip book could be more effective.)

Quoting one of my hero's, Mick Jagger (although sober) could make this transition easier: "Please allow me to introduce myself. I'm a man of wealth and taste ... pleased to meet you. Hope you guess my name. But what's puzzling you is the nature of my game ..."

And that last bit, "the nature of my game," can be quite puzzling. Why am I here at Tonic, and what is my purpose?

After winning a reality tv show in the prime of a genre that, surprisingly, keeps rejuvenating itself, I was thrust into the spotlight without a voice, without a vision, and without a plan. I'm not complaining one bit — in fact I'm quite proud of how things played out. But this is my moment and I'm a little nervous I will mess it up.

I have learned that to make happiness real for others is the greatest gift. It provides a foundation for the celebration of life. My dad taught me this. I honor him by living each day fully and joyously, while striving for hard-to-reach goals. So, my wish here at Tonic is to learn more about myself and this ever-fluctuating world we live in. At the same time, I hope to embarrass myself, teach someone something they didn't know, trigger our ability to affect change — and laugh a little.

Click on ...

--Ethan Zohn

Watch for Ethan tonight (Feb. 4) on the CBS special, "Surviving Survivor." Here's a preview!