Born in Greenwood, Sebastian County, Arkansas on August 9, 1906, Edward was the son of Arl Bing Wallace (a merchant from Van Buren, Arkansas) and Thad Tatum, a Greenwood housewife. Mrs. Wallace was descended from Eaton Tatum, one of the earliest settlers in Western Arkansas. She was also related by marriage to John P. Little, who served as Governor of Arkansas in 1907.

On June 10, 1929, Edward married Wilma Lois Moore in Carter County, Oklahoma. Wilma's mother, Rosa Lee Turnbull was a housewife from Bryant County, Oklahoma and was 1/8 Choctaw Indian. Together, Edward and Wilma had a son, Stephen, on April 17, 1944. The couple also had a daughter, Troupe Ilene Tatum Wallace.

On May 13, 1943, Edward entered the United States Air Force where he worked in the Air Force Editorial Office. During his tenure, there he was awarded a good conduct medal and served as a Public Relations Specialist until his discharge on October 17, 1945. Edward was a feature writer for The New York World Telegram from 1939-1966, and a reporter and feature writer for The World-Telegram and Sun from 1966 until his death. Before becoming a newspaper reporter, Wallace worked as a hardware clerk, bookkeeper, bank teller, oil pipeline worker, telegrapher, farm worker, and oil field production accountant. In 1950, he went on several foreign tours writing feature articles from Japan, Scotland, and South America. Wallace is the author of three books: an autobiographical novel, Barrington (1945), The Moon Is Our Lantern (1953), and The Pink Slip (undated). He also wrote a gardening column under the pseudonym "Lewie Caw".