Morley Callaghan (1903–1990) was born to Irish parents in Toronto, Ontario, in Canada. In 1923, while working as a reporter at the Daily Star—a Toronto newspaper—he met Ernest Hemingway. Hemingway sent some of Callaghan's stories to editors and publishers in Paris. As a result, Callaghan published his first story, "A Girl With Ambition," in 1926. Callaghan was a dedicated writer whose goals were to write well and to keep writing. Like many of his stories, "Luke Baldwin's Vow" deals with the conflict between the demands of the practical world and the spiritual and emotional needs of a character.