The Courters live by the water in Crystal River, Florida. They have three children and eight grandchildren. They are semi-retired and own a production company that makes documentary and educational films. Phil builds things and plays the banjo. Gay writes. She is the author of eleven books, ranging from “The Beansprout Book,” which, according to her Wikipedia page, “introduced beansprouts to American supermarkets and the general public,” to “The Midwife,” a best-seller in 1982.
The Courters speak fondly of this era of “young families doing pretty crazy things”—swimming with humpback whales, flying single-engine planes, “sharing our dreams, problems, children.” One picture from the time shows two sun-kissed, bare-chested kids perched on the crosstrees of a towering mast, with another little boy scrambling to the peak. When the Courters’ cat had kittens, they gave one to the Pestys. “We became their American family, and vice versa,” Gay said.