SAN DIEGO — Rising from poverty by becoming a Playboy bunny, Francesca Emerson is sharing her story of survival and success.

In her new tell-all book, The Chocolate Bunny , Francesca reveals what really happened during those days in the 1960's.

"I felt like I owned the world, because we were stars," Francesca told me.

She was 23 years old when she auditioned to be a Playboy bunny at The Playboy Club in New York City, making quite an impression on Hugh Hefner's brother, Keith, who was in charge of the hiring.

Francesca said she walked in and made a clever and coy introduction; "I said, 'Hi, I'm your chocolate bunny' and was hired on the spot."

She reflected, "I would have been the only black bunny working at that club in January 1964."

In her book, she wrote, "For a black unmarried mother living in New York, Playboy gave me confidence, independence, financial security."

She was a single mom of two young girls and being a bunny opened doors to a life she'd always dreamed of having. Her job would eventually take her from Harlem to Hollywood.

When people learn Francesca was a Playboy Bunny, she gets the usual questions.

"First, they want to know, 'Have you met Hugh Hefner? Have you been to the mansion? What's really going on in the Playboy Club? and have you slept with him?,' those kind of questions," she said with a chuckle.

People also want to know if she was featured nude in an issue of Playboy. So she has to clarify.

"When you say you're a Playboy Bunny, they all think you posed in the magazine," Francesca said, "so they don't know the difference between a Playboy bunny and a Playmate."

She explained that only Playmates were featured in the centerfold; Playboy bunnies were waitresses who worked in The Playboy Clubs.

Francesca said while many people, especially women, look back at the Playboy empire as sexist and exploitative, it gave her power and wealth.

She said being a bunny was hard work. As waitresses, she was on her feet all night, in three inch heels, wearing a tight costume, but she said it was worth it. She was making up to $600 a week, and was able to afford more than just food, clothing and the basic necessities for her children.

In her book, she explains that money was not earned through any sort of sexual favors for customers. She said bunnies had strict rules and exchanging money for sex meant instant dismissal.

"A lot of people were surprised, they always thought bunnies were, you know, hookers, you know, so that was cleared up for them," Francesca said.

Soon, she was signed by a modeling agency, thanks to a customer at the club. She was also cast in several commercials.

When The Playboy Club opened in Los Angeles, Francesca moved west to work there, and rubbed elbows with Warren Beatty, Bill Cosby, Roman Polanski and Michael Douglas.

In her book, she discloses which famous men became her lovers.

The list does not include the Playboy founder.

"No, I did not sleep with Hugh Hefner," Francesca revealed to me.

She did, however, work as an extra on Hefner's television show, "Playboy After Dark." Francesca can be seen in the audience in many of the episodes, including an especially memorable one for her when Tina Turner performed.

"Boy, she was fabulous. This was a young Tina Turner, and she got up there to shake that booty I tell you, and she sang beautifully," Francesca recalled.

She went on to work for Motown Records, and was an assistant film editor on several major motion pictures including The China Syndrome, Ronin and Don Juan DeMarco.

Looking back, Francesca said she has no regrets and hopes her story empowers others.

"I think it's a story of a woman, of a survivor, who made it in a racist man's world, and I'm still here at 79 years old. I'm still here to say 'life is beautiful'."

She wore purple during her visit to our studio in honor of women's history month and said this book is part of her legacy.

Still single, Francesca continues to search for true love, though her three children and three grandchildren keep her heart very full.

"Well, I think that they now, they're going to read this book and they'll know what their grandmother did with her life, where she started as a little girl in the ghettos in Harlem, and where she is now," Francesca said, "and I hope they will be proud of me."