I know they are available in 220V   but does anyone know where a 120v electronic starter is available or if such a thing exists?  thanks much 

They do exist but they're quite rare. I don't have any myself, but I know PowerGroove has one.

Yes they are common in England it seems and depending on the type, most will work fine on our ballasts. Just avoid the high voltage starters designed for 2 lamp series operation. LEL and Arlen Pulsestarters are among the electronic starters in use over there. They are said to be MUCH superior to the glow starter and even make fluorescent lamps last way longer.

I have a few of these electronic starters including an original Arlen Pulsestarter, plus some LEL ones. The thing I don't like about them is they don't flash the lamp at switch-on (I'm a blink-happy light fan )- however I have some older tubes that I want to keep alive for as long as possible so I use the electronic starters on them.

If I want to see a super strobey switch on the junky chinese tubes and glowstarters are the best!