Joe Marshall of Bowling Green talks about his latest book, Just Ramblin Back Home. Photo by Joe Imel

For years, Joe Marshall has been ramblin around Bowling Green. He was on hand with his country group, The Rovin Ramblers, when Bowling Greens first radio station went on the air in 1942.He rambled into a TV studio when his band starred on Bowling Greens first television station WLTV in the early 1960s. Band members wore checkerboard jackets supplied by their sponsor, Purina. When Marshall and his brother, Kenny, formed the now defunct Quonset club where stars such as Ray Charles and BB King played in the early 40s, he got to hang out with R&Bs hottest stars. Ive done a little of everything, the 76-year-old said, smiling. I had a chicken ranch and sold eggs for a number of years. I sold cheesecakes to about 13 big Kroger markets. In the early days, the Rovin Ramblers also toured with Western movie star Sunset Carson, who twirled guns as the Ramblers made music. In 1979, Marshall founded The Vine, a weekly tabloid newspaper in which he wrote the column Just Ramblin. I wrote about the early years of my life, and people liked it, he said. Marshall wrote about having no car, using mules to plow fields and the time an armed forces battalion used his familys alfalfa field near Peachtree Lane for training maneuvers during World War II.They didnt have the audacity to ask us, he said of the soldiers. We looked out the window and said, Look at that. Though he stopped writing the column in 1988, when he stopped publishing The Vine, because he had a heart attack and open heart surgery, people still ask about his life. I can go to the grocery store today, and I can almost guarantee you I wont get out of there until somebody says, Hey, what happened? I used to follow you, he said Thursday. Such interest prompted Marshall to gather his columns into a book. About three months ago I said, Im not doing anything else, he said. Just Ramblin Back Home began selling last week. Its selling like mad, he said of his self-published work. The phones been ringing off the wall. Nearly 300 copies of his book have been sold since Marshall began hitting the streets to show off his work. While the book costs $14.95 and is only available from Marshall, he doesnt know how much money hes made. When his wife, Jenny, tried to count the cash Wednesday night, Marshall said he halted her work by quoting country singer Kenny Rogers The Gambler. Therell be time enough for countin when the dealins done, he said. Marshall said his book is about the early days of America on Peachtree Lane, but really carries through to today. But dont expect to hear all about Marshalls life. He left out the story of how he met his wife when his girlfriend stood him up for Jennys surprise birthday party and no one could get in touch with Jennys boyfriend to invite him. He didnt write about his talking mailbox, which he invented about a year ago so he could record a daily joke and greeting for his favorite mailwoman. But while Marshall omitted enough to fill another book, he hasnt said he will turn out such a work. For now, hes content to have written something he can leave for his children. I wanted to do this, he said. I wanted something to leave behind when Im gone.