When Lee Nelson, owner of Crimson Publications and developer of the Bahá'í retrieval software programs known throughout the world as REFER (for DOS), MARS-for-Windows (Multiple Author REFER System), and Explore! the Heart of the Bahá'í Teachings, passed away on September 19, 2000, a corporation was established by his friends and family to continue to make his software available to the world. We, the volunteers who made up the corporation, gave it a valiant effort; however, we were not able to continue in operation (the reasons are multiple), and the corporation has disbanded.

One of the final decisions The Lee Nelson Memorial Corporation made was to offer Lee's various programs as "careware": an honor system, which in essence means the software is like freeware. It is free for the taking and copying thereof, even for distribution to others. The "care" part comes when one cares enough for the privilege of obtaining the software to make a donation to a worthy cause in memory of Lee Nelson. For Bahá'ís we recommend donations to either (1) the International Bahá'í Fund, or (2) the National Bahá'í Fund in the country where they live. For those who are not Bahá'ís, we leave the choice of a charitable institution up to you.

We do ask that, if you copy this software, or if you give this address to others for the purpose of downloading, you keep in mind and/or mention that it is "careware", giving the explanation above. The donation should be made after the person who obtains the software installs it successfully on their computer because technical support is no longer available. The amount is immaterial; it is the thought that counts. If the country in which you live has an "In Memory" contribution form, such as the one available from the U.S. Bahá'í Treasurer's Office (also available on the U.S. Bahá'í official website), the name of the person to be remembered is "Lee Nelson", and the address to which the contribution acknowledgment should be mailed is The Lee Nelson Memorial, c/o MARS CDs, 1198 Paularino Ave, Costa Mesa, CA, 92626 USA.

As this notice is being prepared (November 2001), we are aware of two other software programs in existence for retrieval of Bahá'í texts: one for IBM compatibles and one for MACs. There is even one on the horizon entitled "Ocean" that may well become the standard that MARS has been for so many years. Nevertheless, we believe the utility of Lee's software has yet to be matched. We are proud to offer it to you and pray you find it as useful as those of us who already use it.

Warmest regards,
The Family and Friends of Lee Nelson