Dennis Schmitz (August 11, 1937 â September 12, 2019) was an American poet.
Dennis Schmitz grew up in Dubuque, Iowa. He graduated from Loras College and the University of Chicago, where he met and married Loretta D'Agostino in 1960; they have five children together. He has taught at Illinois Institute of Technology, University of WisconsinâÂÂMilwaukee and California State University, Sacramento. His former students include Raymond Carver, Charlene Ungstad, Gary Short, and Gary Thompson.
He opposes the death penalty and protests executions in California every time they take place.
His work has appeared in the Alaska Quarterly Review, American Poetry Review, The Nation, Paris Review, the Chicago Review, and Zyzzyva.
He resided in Sacramento.