Good Friday earthquake survivors reunited for upcoming TV documentary

Friday’s Southcentral Alaska earthquake might have been a boon for the producers of an upcoming PBS documentary featuring survivors of the 1964 Good Friday quake.

“I did send them an email asking if they did that for PR,” joked Dan Kendall of Eagle River, whose story is chronicled in Season 2 of “We’ll Meet Again.”

The documentary brings together people who haven’t seen each another in many years. Kendall, who was living in Valdez when the quake struck, was reunited with former Little League teammate and neighbor Rudolph “Bucky” Svein, who now lives in Washington state.

Kendall’s story is one of two told during the show. The other is that of Michele Wiley, who lived in the Turnagain neighborhood of Anchorage during the magnitude 9.2 quake -- the largest recorded in North America. Wiley is brought together with her childhood friend Gretchen, who lived in the same neighborhood.

The episode dramatizes Kendall’s search, following him from Valdez -- where he stands near the old waterfront and reminisces about the tsunami and earthquake that killed 32 residents and destroyed most of the town -- to a Seattle archive and eventually to Svein.

[Commentary: Here’s who to thank that we all survived the quake on Friday]

The reunion trek is an emotional one for Kendall, who tells executive producer Ann Curry the experience of tracking down his old friend proved more intense than he expected.

“These moments are the first time I’ve had a chance to cry about it,” he says at one point.

On that day, Kendall had been playing with a pair of older friends near the docks but went home. He was walking into his family home when the ground began to violently surge beneath his feet.

“In the end everything was on the floor -- including me,” Kendall said.

Both of his older friends -- Dennis Cunningham and Stanley Knuteson -- were among the 32 people killed by the tsunami that swept away the docks. In the PBS episode, Kendall returns to the dock pilings where so many of the townspeople were seen for the last time.

“These pilings represent the lost souls of the people that were here,” Kendall says before turning and walking away on his own.

When Friday’s magnitude 7.0 quake hit not far from his home, Kendall was sitting at his dining room table in Eagle River. Immediately memories of the fateful day from his childhood came flooding back.

“It brings back that level of concern, having experienced the big one,” Kendall said Friday evening.

The episode featuring Kendall and Wiley is scheduled to air on PBS at 8 p.m. Tuesday, Dec. 18. In addition to interviews with both, the episode includes archival footage from Valdez and Anchorage taken in the immediate aftermath of the 1964 earthquake. Loussac Library in Anchorage -- where some of the episode was filmed -- will hold a special screening Thursday, Dec. 6, from 6 to 8 p.m. The library is at 3600 Denali St.

In the days following the 1964 tragedy, Kendall said, most of the people of Valdez scattered to locations elsewhere in Alaska or Outside. Svein lost his stepfather in the tsunami, and the family relocated to Washington. In the chaos, the two friends never had a chance to say goodbye.

“We never got to see those people again,” Kendall said.

The episode provided some degree of closure for Kendall, who said getting to see “Bucky” for the first time in more than five decades was a healing experience.

“We had a great talk when we were there,” he said.

Looking back on the tragedy underscored for Kendall the importance of emergency responders and those who risk their lives to help others in times of need. Those thoughts have been reinforced by Friday’s quake and by recent natural disasters such as the California wildfires.

“We need to be sensitive for and caring for people,” he said. “Maybe this month we should give more money to the Red Cross, our charities that take care of these major disasters in case they happen.”