diff --git a/README.md b/README.md
index fdfe6bc..9aa1054 100644
--- a/README.md
+++ b/README.md
@@ -38,8 +38,7 @@ type information and data handling behavior to the runner.
 #### An Example
 
 To get you started, here is a simple example where we pass a `string` to a
-process and get back a `Uint8Array`. The group is hidden in the `gzip(...)`
-function.
+process and get back a `Uint8Array`.
 
 ```ts
 /**
@@ -48,18 +47,13 @@ function.
  * @return The text compressed into bytes.
  */
 async function gzip(text: string): Promise<Uint8Array> {
-  const pg = group();
-  try {
-    /* I am using a string for input and a Uint8Array (bytes) for output. */
-    const pr: Runner<string, Uint8Array> = runner(
-      stringInput(),
-      bytesOutput(),
-    )(pg);
-
-    return await pr.run({ cmd: ["gzip", "-c"] }, text);
-  } finally {
-    pg.close();
-  }
+  /* I am using a string for input and a Uint8Array (bytes) for output. */
+  const pr: Runner<string, Uint8Array> = runner(
+    stringInput(),
+    bytesOutput(),
+  )();
+
+  return await pr.run({ cmd: ["gzip", "-c"] }, text);
 }
 
 console.dir(await gzip("Hello, world."));
@@ -222,6 +216,10 @@ try {
 }
 ```
 
+If you don't specify a group when running a command, the global group will be
+used. This is fine if the processes you run are all "well behaved" and/or if you
+are doing a short run of just a few processes.
+
 ## Performance Considerations
 
 In general, `Uint8Array`s are faster than `string`s. This is because processes
diff --git a/examples/warandpeace/countwords.ts b/examples/warandpeace/countwords.ts
index 391cdeb..3a9ebc4 100755
--- a/examples/warandpeace/countwords.ts
+++ b/examples/warandpeace/countwords.ts
@@ -12,7 +12,6 @@ import * as proc from "../../mod.ts";
  * (the lowercase conversion).
  */
 
-const pg = proc.group();
 try {
   /*
      * `stdin` will be from a gzipped text file. So the first thing we need to do is
@@ -24,7 +23,7 @@ try {
   const uncompressedDoc = proc.runner(
     proc.readerInput(),
     proc.bytesIterableOutput(),
-  )(pg).run(
+  )().run(
     {
       cmd: ["gunzip"],
     },
@@ -37,7 +36,7 @@ try {
   const rawWords = proc.runner(
     proc.bytesIterableInput(),
     proc.bytesIterableOutput(),
-  )(pg).run(
+  )().run(
     {
       cmd: ["grep", "-o", "-E", "(\\w|')+"],
     },
@@ -50,7 +49,7 @@ try {
   const nonNumericWords = proc.runner(
     proc.bytesIterableInput(),
     proc.stringIterableOutput(),
-  )(pg).run(
+  )().run(
     {
       cmd: ["grep", "-v", "-P", "^\\d"],
     },
@@ -75,7 +74,7 @@ try {
   const sortedWords = proc.runner(
     proc.stringIterableInput(),
     proc.bytesIterableOutput(),
-  )(pg).run(
+  )().run(
     { cmd: ["sort"] },
     lowercaseWords,
   );
@@ -86,7 +85,7 @@ try {
   const uniqWords = proc.runner(
     proc.bytesIterableInput(),
     proc.bytesIterableOutput(),
-  )(pg).run(
+  )().run(
     { cmd: ["uniq"] },
     sortedWords,
   );
@@ -96,7 +95,7 @@ try {
    * The first line of output is the count from `wc`. I grab this line and convert it to integer.
    */
   const countOfWords = parseInt(
-    (await proc.runner(proc.bytesIterableInput(), proc.stringArrayOutput())(pg)
+    (await proc.runner(proc.bytesIterableInput(), proc.stringArrayOutput())()
       .run(
         { cmd: ["wc", "-l"] },
         uniqWords,
@@ -108,6 +107,4 @@ try {
 } catch (e) {
   console.dir(e);
   Deno.exit(1);
-} finally {
-  pg.close();
 }
diff --git a/examples/warandpeace/countwords2.ts b/examples/warandpeace/countwords2.ts
index 0dbf05f..392ba2c 100755
--- a/examples/warandpeace/countwords2.ts
+++ b/examples/warandpeace/countwords2.ts
@@ -17,7 +17,6 @@ proc.enableChaining(true);
  * as fast as the pure shell version.
  */
 
-const pg = proc.group();
 try {
   /*
    * Bash squashes errors that occur in pipes. I really want to trap an error that
@@ -29,12 +28,12 @@ try {
   const uncompressedText = proc.runner(
     proc.readerInput(),
     proc.bytesIterableOutput(proc.stderrLinesToErrorMessage(20)),
-  )(pg).run({ cmd: ["gunzip"] }, Deno.stdin);
+  )().run({ cmd: ["gunzip"] }, Deno.stdin);
 
   const nonNumericWords = proc.runner(
     proc.bytesIterableInput(),
     proc.stringIterableOutput(),
-  )(pg).run(
+  )().run(
     {
       cmd: [
         "bash",
@@ -57,7 +56,7 @@ try {
       await proc.runner(
         proc.stringIterableInput(),
         proc.stringArrayOutput(),
-      )(pg).run(
+      )().run(
         {
           cmd: [
             "bash",
@@ -75,6 +74,4 @@ try {
 } catch (e) {
   console.dir(e);
   Deno.exit(1);
-} finally {
-  pg.close();
 }
diff --git a/examples/warandpeace/countwords3.ts b/examples/warandpeace/countwords3.ts
index 13a296c..868edb0 100755
--- a/examples/warandpeace/countwords3.ts
+++ b/examples/warandpeace/countwords3.ts
@@ -6,14 +6,13 @@ import * as proc from "../../mod.ts";
  * This is a rewrite of the first example, but using non-streaming mode, just for fun.
  */
 
-const pg = proc.group();
 try {
   console.error(`${new Date()} Starting.`);
 
   const uncompressedDoc = await proc.runner(
     proc.readerInput(),
     proc.stringOutput(),
-  )(pg).run(
+  )().run(
     {
       cmd: ["gunzip"],
     },
@@ -27,7 +26,7 @@ try {
   const rawWords = await proc.runner(
     proc.stringInput(),
     proc.stringArrayOutput(),
-  )(pg).run(
+  )().run(
     {
       cmd: ["grep", "-o", "-E", "(\\w|')+"],
     },
@@ -41,7 +40,7 @@ try {
   const nonNumericWords = await proc.runner(
     proc.stringArrayInput(),
     proc.stringArrayOutput(),
-  )(pg).run(
+  )().run(
     {
       cmd: ["grep", "-v", "-P", "^\\d"],
     },
@@ -59,7 +58,7 @@ try {
   const sortedWords = await proc.runner(
     proc.stringArrayInput(),
     proc.stringArrayOutput(),
-  )(pg).run(
+  )().run(
     { cmd: ["sort"] },
     lowercaseWords,
   );
@@ -69,7 +68,7 @@ try {
   const uniqWords = await proc.runner(
     proc.stringArrayInput(),
     proc.stringArrayOutput(),
-  )(pg).run(
+  )().run(
     { cmd: ["uniq"] },
     sortedWords,
   );
@@ -79,7 +78,7 @@ try {
   );
 
   const countOfWords = parseInt(
-    (await proc.runner(proc.stringArrayInput(), proc.stringArrayOutput())(pg)
+    (await proc.runner(proc.stringArrayInput(), proc.stringArrayOutput())()
       .run(
         { cmd: ["wc", "-l"] },
         uniqWords,
@@ -92,6 +91,4 @@ try {
 } catch (e) {
   console.dir(e);
   Deno.exit(1);
-} finally {
-  pg.close();
 }
diff --git a/examples/warandpeace/read.ts b/examples/warandpeace/read.ts
index 39ef316..916ae30 100755
--- a/examples/warandpeace/read.ts
+++ b/examples/warandpeace/read.ts
@@ -2,22 +2,17 @@
 
 import * as proc from "../../mod.ts";
 
-const pg = proc.group();
-try {
-  for await (const text of proc.toLines(proc.readerToBytes(Deno.stdin))) {
-    if (text.trim().length > 0) {
-      console.log();
-      console.log(
-        await proc.runner(proc.stringInput(), proc.stringOutput())(pg).run({
-          cmd: ["fmt", "-w", "80"],
-        }, text.trim()),
-      );
-      await proc.simpleRunner(pg).run({
-        cmd: ["spd-say", "-w", "-t", "female3", text.trim()],
-      });
-    }
-    await proc.sleep(500);
+for await (const text of proc.toLines(proc.readerToBytes(Deno.stdin))) {
+  if (text.trim().length > 0) {
+    console.log();
+    console.log(
+      await proc.runner(proc.stringInput(), proc.stringOutput())().run({
+        cmd: ["fmt", "-w", "80"],
+      }, text.trim()),
+    );
+    await proc.simpleRunner().run({
+      cmd: ["spd-say", "-w", "-t", "female3", text.trim()],
+    });
   }
-} finally {
-  pg.close();
+  await proc.sleep(500);
 }
diff --git a/release-notes.md b/release-notes.md
index d984cfd..638adb2 100644
--- a/release-notes.md
+++ b/release-notes.md
@@ -3,6 +3,8 @@
 ## 0.13.0
 
 - `#15` **feature** Added `simpleRunner`.
+- `#21` **feature** Supports a global process group by default; allows omitting
+  group create/close boilerplate in most cases.
 
 ## 0.12.2
 
diff --git a/runner.ts b/runner.ts
index 7985c41..f7162b1 100644
--- a/runner.ts
+++ b/runner.ts
@@ -2,11 +2,14 @@ import { RunnerImpl } from "./runner-impl.ts";
 import { emptyInput, emptyOutput } from "./runners/handlers/empty.ts";
 import {
   Group,
+  group,
   InputHandler,
   OutputHandler,
   RunOptions,
 } from "./runners/proc-group.ts";
 
+const globalGroup = group();
+
 /** Something that is either a promise or an iterable. */
 export type PromiseOrIterable<B> = B extends AsyncIterable<unknown> ? B
   : Promise<B>;
@@ -32,8 +35,8 @@ export interface Runner<A, B> {
 export function runner<A, B>(
   input: InputHandler<A>,
   output: OutputHandler<B>,
-): (group: Group) => Runner<A, B> {
-  return (group: Group) => new RunnerImpl(group, input, output);
+): (group?: Group) => Runner<A, B> {
+  return (group?: Group) => new RunnerImpl(group || globalGroup, input, output);
 }
 
 /**
@@ -41,6 +44,6 @@ export function runner<A, B>(
  * Note that `stdout` is treated is assumed to be text and not byte data.
  * @returns A process runner.
  */
-export function simpleRunner(group: Group): Runner<void, void> {
-  return new RunnerImpl(group, emptyInput(), emptyOutput());
+export function simpleRunner(group?: Group): Runner<void, void> {
+  return new RunnerImpl(group || globalGroup, emptyInput(), emptyOutput());
 }