Moss was born in New York City. He attended the University of Michigan, where he won a Hopwood Award. He is credited with discovering a number of major American poets, including Anne Sexton and Amy Clampitt. He was a closeted homosexual.
W. H. Auden and Chester Kallman co-wrote a famously concise clerihew in his honor:
- TO THE POETRY EDITOR OF THE NEW YORKER
- :Is Robert LowellBetter than NoelCoward,Howard?