When Walter was two, his parents moved from Panama to the small fishing village of Cahuita in the Costa Rican province of Limón, where he ended up spending the rest of his life, almost never leaving it.

"[2] When he was seven, his mother sent him to the Caribbean port city of Limón to live with her sister Doris, who offered to help him learn to read, write and play music on her piano.

[3] Inspired by older calypsonians such as Mighty Sparrow and Papa Houdini,[4][5] he started writing his own songs and attending all the calypso challenges around the Caribbean coast.

He formed his first calypso band in his thirties, with which he performed at local festivals and events, sometimes for a few colones, some others just for the joy of "bringing some happiness", as he recounts in an interview, especially at the weddings of less affluent couples.

[7] In his forties, he formed a second band, "Los Miserables" which became quite known locally for its varied Caribbean repertoire that included genres like guaracha, rumba and bolero.

The group split upon a trivial fight among two of its members that led Ferguson to quit the band in sign of protest against their behaviour and promise to never play the clarinet again, a vow he kept for the rest of his life.

Contrary to his mother's predictions,[9] he worked as a farmer throughout his life to support himself and the large family he had with his wife Julia Drummond, a childhood friend and neighbour, who died in 2016 at the age of 87.

[12] After composing his first calypso "A sailing boat" in his twenties during WWII, he went on to write an estimated two hundred throughout his life, including "Cabin in the Wata", "Callaloo" and "Carnaval Day".

His life as a farmer, his devotion to God, the daily life, problems and joys of the little towns along Costa Rica's Southeastern shoreline are all central themes in his compositions, written with his signature combination of humour and tragedy in the local creole English:"My mother tongue is English but Spanish is the official language of Costa Rica and it's taught in all public schools.

They used mattresses and rugs to soundproof one of the rooms, muffle the sounds of the local pet parrots, dogs, passing buses and trucks, and increase the temperature so that they could separate the tracks of his voice and his guitar.