Best selling author gave a talk on March 2 in the library, on his experience surviving a grizzly bear attack as a teenager in the Canadian wilderness.

Photographer, marketer, UMD Communication Specialist and now author, Alex Messenger promoted his bestselling memoir,  “The Twenty-Ninth Day '' to dozens of listeners. Messengers 2019 book was sold at the talk and a free copy was given to a lucky drawing winner.

Messenger opened his talk by telling the audience that his expected 42 day long journey through the Canadian Tundra as a 17 year-old did not come with the risk most people expect, “But the fact is, getting here today in a snowstorm is probably more risky,” Messenger said.

The 600 mile canoe trip was with a group of wilderness lovers. A friend convinced Messenger to sign up for the unforgettable journey.

After going through an experience that very few survive, many years after the attack, the author joked about the traumatic experience with the audience, “If you see a grizzly bear up there you are lucky, I ended up being incredibly lucky,” Messenger said.

Following the sharing of a reading from the memoir, the packed room got to hear details of the horrific encounter and the events following the incident. “I was staring into the sharp black eyes of a grizzly bear,” Messenger said.

The bear mauling could have resulted much differently. Throwing a camera case at the 600 pound apex predator didn’t deter it from charging at the teen, narrowly missing his face, scratching his back and eventually digging its teeth into his leg. The bear left after Messenger passed out. “I was so sure I was about to die, then the lights went out,” Messenger said. Filled with lots of adrenaline he was able to make his way back to camp when he awoke.

 As a result of the attack, Messenger suffered a leg injury which became infected. The photographer explained how lucky he was to be alive after the confrontation, as a sharp tooth missed his femoral artery by less than an inch. Eventually, the survivor and his friend left the unforgettable journey and the barren Northern Canadian wilderness in a helicopter as the group continued on.

The survivor ended his recap of the attack with a Q&A, where audience members took the chance to ask him questions. A listener asked if he had any tattoos to remember the rare experience, “Scars are tattoos with better stories,” Messenger said.

Messenger now volunteers with the St. Louis County Rescue Squad. The wilderness lover credits his love for nature to his family and the brutal grizzly bear attack he survived on that summer day in 2005.