Background
Coombs was born on Saint Vincent in the Caribbean in 1939.
Coombs was born on Saint Vincent in the Caribbean in 1939.
He received his Bachelor of Arts degree from Yale University in 1965, where he was the first black student initiated into the secret society Skull and Bones. He earned his Master of Arts degree from New York University in 1971. He then worked as an editor for Doubleday & Company and later for McCall Corporation.
In addition to editing, he produced documentaries on West Indian culture, and was an adjunct professor at New York University.
He was a co-host for Black Conversations, a talk show on WPIX in 1975. We Speak as Liberators: Young Black Poets (1970)
What We Must See: Young Black Storytellers (1971)
Is Massa Day Dead? Black Moods in the Caribbean (1974).