Houston, Texas – May 5, 2026
Press Release:
Saint Julian Press is proud to announce a new three-act play. The Nearness of Light by Ron Starbuck will be released on July 31, 2026. In an imagined meeting, Carl Sandburg and Marilyn Monroe step beyond image into the stillness where identity, language, and truth begin again. Some encounters seem small when first imagined—two people in a quiet room as evening approaches. Yet such a meeting can reveal something greater than the moment itself. The Nearness of Light begins with such a possibility.
The Nearness of Light imagines a quiet meeting late in the lives of two Americans whose paths, though outwardly very different, reveal something essential about the nation’s inner life. In the living room of Carl Sandburg’s home in the Blue Ridge foothills, the aging poet—rooted in the language, labor, and democratic spirit of the country—receives Marilyn Monroe, a figure shaped by the modern world’s relentless visibility. The play moves gently beyond the historical record, imagining what might have unfolded had their brief meetings deepened.
Their conversation becomes less a historical reconstruction than a meditation on art, loneliness, identity, and the longing to be known beyond the roles society assigns us. Through their exchange, the play reflects a tension that has run through American life from its earliest days: the distance between the image we present to the world and the deeper self that seeks meaning, dignity, and belonging.
In bringing these two voices together, the play suggests that literature, conversation, and the patient work of language have long helped Americans see themselves more clearly. Beneath fame, ambition, and public performance remains something quieter and more enduring—the human search for authenticity—a search that continues to shape the American story.
RON STARBUCK is Publisher, CEO, and Executive Editor of Saint Julian Press. A poet, essayist, and playwright, he is the author of six collections of poetry, including At the Still Point: In Conversation with Saint Julian and You Are Accepted: In Conversation with Paul Tillich. His work explores moral imagination, civic responsibility, and the contemplative tradition. The Nearness of Light is his second full-length play in verse, extending his poetic voice into the realm of civic drama.
Publication Date: July 31, 2026
Paperback: $18.00
Publisher: Saint Julian Press, Inc.
Print ISBN-13: 978-1-955194-54-9
eBook ISBN-13: 978-1-955194-55-6
Library of Congress Control Number: 2026941464
Paperback: 94 Pages
For a PDF Advance Copy, contact Ron Starbuck.
SJP-Publisher@saintjulianpress.org