[3] Callwood was born in Chatham, Ontario, and grew up in nearby Belle River, with her younger sister Jane.

Her parents' marriage was deeply troubled, and despite the affection shown to her by her grandparents, Callwood's childhood was marked by adversity.

Finally her childhood came to an abrupt end when her father left the family and she was forced to drop out of high school to earn an income.

[7] She later worked for the Brantford Expositor[7] as a cub reporter[8] and received 50¢ per week for assorted writing and proofreading assignments.

[6] During this time, in the midst of World War II, June was earning $7.50 a week, half of which she gave to her mother for rent.

[10][6] Callwood left The Globe and Mail to raise a family but later resumed her career by becoming a freelance journalist, writing books and magazine pieces, many for Maclean's.

Soon after, she ghost-wrote autobiographies for such prominent Americans as broadcaster Barbara Walters, film director Otto Preminger and Dr. Charles William Mayo.

[7] Callwood's career was marked by a strong concern for social justice, especially on issues affecting children and women.

In 2011, June Rose Callwood Public School, located at 84 Edward Street in St. Thomas, Ontario, was named in her honour.

[7] The second son and youngest child, Casey Frayne, was killed on April 19, 1982, when he was 20 years old, by a drunk driver[18] on Highway 401 as he returned home from Queen's University.

In 1968 she was arrested and briefly spent time in the Don Jail after siding with homeless Yorkville children in a battle with police.

But her most painful passage was in 1991, while on the board at Nellie's, when a number of women she considered friends failed to stand up for her in the face of allegations of racism.