Frederick Smock, Louisville poet and former Bellarmine professor, dies at 68

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- Frederick Smock, a Louisville poet and former professor at Bellarmine University, died over the weekend at the age of 68.

Smock was a Kentucky poet laureate and aimed to reintroduce Kentuckians to the joy of poetry. He said his lyrical poems were often short and straightforward with no hidden meanings.

"I'm going to go around to people and just read poetry, (asking them simply to) sit with it and take it in, because people are not reading poetry much anymore," he said in a 2017 profile in Bellarmine Magazine. "And being an educator, I want to talk about the joy we had as children and try to recapture some of that."

He wrote five collections of poetry and his work gained national and international attention.

Smock, a native of Louisville, grew up in a house in the country in Fern Creek, Bellarmine said in a tribute on its website. He graduated from Seneca High School, earned a Bachelor's degree from Georgetown College and a Master's degree at the University of Louisville.

Bellarmine said Smock enjoyed teaching English 200 there, a general education course where he aimed to introduce students to his passion for poetry.

"I go into it with missionary zeal," he said.

A memorial service will be planned when Bellarmine students return to campus.