Born in Manchester, New Hampshire in 1918 but raised in Salem, Massachusetts (where his family had lived since 1640), Coxe was educated at St. Paul's School.
The New York Times' Brooks Atkinson called it "extraordinarily well done," and said that "the tragic portions are written with taste, firmness and intelligence."
He wrote several other plays, most for local productions in Maine, one of which, "Decoration Day" (about Civil War general Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain), was published as a book along with his long narrative poem "Nikal Seyn."
Much of his work focused on his experience during World War II and the natural environment of his native New England.
He was named the 36th fellow of the Academy of American Poets in 1977[1] and was awarded a creative writing grant from the National Endowment for the Arts that same year.