His schooling in the Chicago settlement house movement was excellent, and by his teens he had learned French and read widely in European 18th- and 19th-century authors.
He attended the University of Southern California law school during the summer of 1911, but did not continue, and in 1914 was accepted into the Librarian Training Program offered by the Los Angeles Public Library.
By a chance meeting, he was invited to become assistant to the American Commission to the newly created International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) in Paris, where he arrived in late 1920.
When Sherwood Anderson and his wife arrived at Paris in May 1921, Galantière introduced them to Sylvia Beach, James Joyce, and Ezra Pound.
Later that year, Galantière would become acquainted with a young Ernest Hemingway and his wife Hadley shortly after their arrival in late December.
During the next few years, Galantière supplemented his ICC salary by publishing reviews and translations of Jean Cocteau (The Grand Ecarte and Thomas the Imposter).
When his ICC work drew to a close in 1926, Galantière returned to New York City, where he earned a meager living as a translator of Remy de Gourmont, Leon Daudet, Paul Morand, Jean Maurice Pouquet, Raymond Escholier, and Jakob Wassermann.
Galantière's introduction to Virgil Thomson led to Houseman's role in producing Four Saints in Three Acts, and onwards to a career in show business.
He also organized and translated Wind, Sand, and Stars by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry, which won that year's National Book Award for nonfiction.
As Allied forces landed in France, and made their push to Paris, Galantière followed in a public announcement truck, providing news to the freshly liberated villages.