The Day Trees Bent to the Ground: Stories from the '64 Alaska Earthquake

by Janet Boylan, Dolores Roguszka

All author proceeds from the sale of The Day Trees Bent to the Ground go to support the Anchorage Senior Center. The Day Trees Bent to the Ground is 150 first person stories from people who survived The Great Alaska Earthquake. Quotes from the My hands that were still holding my twofer scotch-and-waters. My hands that had taken the glasses under the table, out from under the table, all around the block, into the car and now, as I watched, began shaking so hard they dropped both drinks in my lap. Jean Paal I came to your house to tell your wife she was a widow. Tom Marshall Believe me when I say I am not ready for a re-run of that quake. Arliss Sturgelewski Bill and June wrapped their arms around each other as they were thrown to the floor and were rocketed back and forth and up and down the hall like a human bowling ball. Esther Wunnicke ..could find no information about the whereabouts of Mildred, Sally and my children. When I returned to the hospital to tell John that I had lost the kids.... Elizabeth Tower Mom had made up her mind that the safest place for baby Becky was to throw her on a pile of snow.... Jackie Young Mr. Swensen, you go to hell! Vera Stribling

352 pages, Paperback

First published December 1, 2004

About the author

Janet was raised in southern Oregon, where she went through school. She graduated from Southern Oregon College with a degree in teaching. After working in Oregon for six years she moved to Alaska, where she taught at Campbell Elementary and Clark Junior High School, retiring in 1996, when her youngest son finished high school.

She started going to the Anchorage Senior Center in 1996 mostly to play bridge. She hadnt played tennis since high school, but found that was something she also enjoyed doing with other seniors. She gradually became interested in helping on the Board of Directors and found that it was essential to raise money for operations for the Center.

She first got interested in getting family stories on paper, and then branched out to include her classes, and getting them to write their own stories. When the Center found itself very short on funds, she decided to do a book on the Alaska Earthquake of 1964, The Day the Trees Bent to the Ground, which was published in 2004 and is now in a third printing.

When not compiling stories she and her husband, Don, have a cabin near Gate Creek, and they enjoy the winter sports offered in the area. "If you are going to live in Alaska you have to get out in the winter," she says. Other snowbirds leave in the winter, she leaves in the summer, if at all.

She hopes that people who read the books she helps put together enjoy the stories as much as she enjoys collecting them and getting them printed. She says, "Everybody has a story to tell.""

Reviews

[B Zimp · Rating 4 out of 5]

A collection of hundreds of stories gathered from (current) senior citizens, about their recollections of the 1964 earthquake's effects on Alaska. Each tale is short and unique with a lot of interesting history about the state and Anchorage. I loved imagining Northern Lights as a dirt road and Rabbit Creek as "out in the sticks." The damage, experience, and recovery is a worthy topic and this was an valiant project to amass these histories.

[Andrea · Rating 2 out of 5]

I'm cheating on this one. I didn't actually read the whole thing. I just can't. But I think I read enough of it to get the gist of it. This book is a compilation of firsthand stories about the 1964 earthquake in Alaska that devastated entire cities and communities.

From the start, I didn't really enjoy the front matter. The people who wrote the preface or forward or whatever, were not very organized. There were changes in tense, random facts and frequent jumping from one region to the next. It was very confusing to follow.

After that, the vast majority is simply entry after entry of different peoples' experiences with the earthquake - what they were doing when it happened, how it impacted their day/life, the ordeal that it was during and after, and so on.

It's not that it isn't interesting. It's quite interesting to get so many glimpses into the daily lives of these people and how an earthquake of this size impacted so many in such a big way. But it's not really a book you can read cover to cover - at least not for me. It starts to feel tedious after a couple of dozen stories.

I could see this being something like a Chicken Soup for the Soul kind of read where you just pick it up now and then, but I'm going to let myself off the hook of feeling like I need to read the whole thing.

I will say that, for the sake of history, I'm glad these people went to the effort of gathering and publishing these stories. It's nice to have access to them even though I don't feel compelled to read each one. They definitely provide a fascinating window in this life-changing tragedy.

[Donna · Rating 3 out of 5]

A collection of written or transcribed oral accounts of the 1964 earthquake. Interesting, but became rather repetitive.

[Kathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is a compilation of interviews with people about their experiences during the 9.2 Good Friday earthquake in Alaska in 1964. At the time, these 149 people were scattered across the state so its a good cross-section and no two stories are the same. People were at home, at work, driving, standing in the middle of a frozen lake, cross country skiing, you name it. I particularly liked the interviews in which a parent told their version of the story, followed by an interview with their now-adult child telling the tale from a child's perspective.

[Diane · Rating 3 out of 5]

This collection of personal stories from the Alaska earthquake 1964 takes you beyond the news and science stories of the earthquake. Simultaneously these stories happened. You are provided a glimpse into the impact on individuals with their own perspective. Gather all those stories together and your understanding of the earthquake becomes more profound. Thank you to everyone who contributed. Thank you for sharing your stories.

[Geri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent stories from the 1964 earthquake in Alaska. Everyday folks recall where the were, and how they coped.

[Cathy Heyworth Harris · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was honored to have my story included, next to the greats of Alaska's history.