A MAN who formed a lifelong friendship with international folk singer Donovan was reunited with his hero at the Oxford hotel where they first met 50 years ago.

John Pollak, 68, got to know Donovan after a concert at the now-closed Forum Ballroom, in High Street.

Like dozens of young fans, he stayed after the show hoping to meet the singer. Donovan told him to wait in the reception area of the Eastgate Hotel, also in High Street.

Mr Pollak, who used to live in Cowley and went to Oxford High School, could barely believe it when Donovan sat down with him a half hour later and taught him how to play his hit Catch the Wind and Why Do You Treat Me Like You Do, the record’s B-side. Both were then aged just 18.

Donovan showed Mr Pollak a guitar-picking style called the clawhammer, which he also taught Paul McCartney and John Lennon. About 25 years ago, Mr Pollak heard Donovan was on tour in the UK and sent him a fax recounting their meeting in Oxford. They met up shortly after in Cambridge and have kept in touch ever since.

On Tuesday, they recreated their first meeting at the Eastgate Hotel as Donovan was in Oxford for a concert at the Town Hall.

Mr Pollak, who called Donovan a very special, straightforward person, said: “It was quite amazing, really. Don said he would be coming to Oxford and we’d get together again. He fulfilled that promise.”

Donovan told the Oxford Mail: “It’s great what happened, because I didn’t teach guitar to every fan that I met but he was keen.

“John is a very keen fan and became a friend over the years. It was wonderful to meet with him again.

“In those days it seemed you could meet and actually speak to a fan. You wanted your fans to know that you were accessible. Then it became impossible.”

Mr Pollak, who now lives in Essex with Barbara, his wife of 37 years, said the meeting was nostalgic.

“The hotel was completely refurbished so it’s not quite as I remember it, but what doesn’t change in 50 years?” He added: “To be in the same room again and in the position where he taught me how to play these songs 50 years ago was very special. Fifty years is a long time.”

Donovan went on to reach international success and in 2012 was accepted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, a museum that recognises the world’s most influential artists.

He played in Oxford this week as part of his first tour in 10 years. The two men had lunch together and walked around Oxford before the show.