He spent the first 14 years of his life in Orange, before moving to Auburn, a western Sydney suburb, where his father wound down his career as a bookmaker.
During the next decade, as Talkarra Press (an Aboriginal word for "stone"), he produced ten innovative limited editions, including Dulcie Deamer's poem "Blue Centaur" (1953), P. R. Stephensen's "Kookaburra's and Satyrs" (1954) and R. D. FitzGerald's poem of a convict-flogging, "The Wind at Your Door" (1959).
Walter Stone, a bibliophile from an early age, was a founding member of the Book Collectors Society of Australia (BCSA) in 1944, and was its major supporter for all his life.
He edited and printed the journal of the society, Biblionews, from 1947 until his death in 1981, whence he was succeeded by John Edward Fletcher.
He also printed and was general editor of the BCSA series "Studies in Australian Bibliography" (1954-1978),[4] which recorded the publications of such writers as Henry Lawson, Joseph Furphy, John Shaw Neilson, Rolf Boldrewood, Christopher Brennan, Hugh McCrae, Marcus Clarke and several members of the Norman Lindsay family.
For the last, he was instrumental in acquiring the important Father Leo Hayes Collection of Australian Literature.
Walter Stone was awarded an Order of Australia Medal (OAM) in June 1981 for his support of Australian literature,[5] but was unable to attend in person because of his terminal illness.