In 1975, Englishman Tom Michell was living in South America, where he taught at St. George’s, an English-language boarding school in Argentina. On winter break, he went to Uruguay and on the beach came across an oil-soaked penguin, the lone survivor of a spill. Moved by the bird’s distress, Michell brought him back to the apartment where he was staying, cleaned him and fed him. The penguin quickly became attached to the young teacher, so he brought the bird— whom he’d named Juan Salvado, or ‘John Saved’—back with him to school. He installed him on a terrace adjoining his rooms, in one of the dormitories; there the gregarious penguin enjoyed abundant sun and shade, and entertained his many visitors. In Michell’s new memoir, The Penguin Lessons, he writes about the joy that Juan Salvado brought to everyone he met.

From the very first day that I brought a penguin to live at St. George’s, one student in particular wanted to help with his care, and that boy’s name was Diego Gonzales. Diego arrived at school a shy 13-year old lad who gave the impression of being frightened by his own shadow. He was not an academically gifted student and struggled with his work.

None of St. George’s extracurricular activities seemed to suit him either; he was a slightly built boy who couldn’t catch a ball to save his life.

In addition, Diego’s knowledge of English was limited, and even his Spanish was heavily laced with the patois of his native Bolivia, so he tended to avoid conversation. But the saddest part of all was the homesickness he suffered. He hadn’t been ready to leave his family, and he missed them dreadfully. It came as no surprise that the boy spent as much time with Juan Salvado as he could. Diego was not entirely without friends, but they were students like him who had similar problems fitting in.