Nancy's Bookshelf: Chico author on growing up in a family of 48 children

By Nancy Wiegman,

Published October 1, 2025 at 11:30 AM PDT

Chico author Jerry Allred's memoir offers a unique glimpse into a prominent Mormon polygamist family, chronicling his upbringing with a father, seven plural wives, and forty-seven siblings.

Episode #789

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Nancy Wiegman

Nancy Wiegman has a master's degree in French linguistics from Indiana University and taught yoga and foreign languages at CSU Fresno and the College of Charleston before moving to Chico in 1990.

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Matt Fidler

Matt Fidler is a producer and sound designer with over 15 years’ experience producing nationally distributed public radio programs. He has worked for shows such as Freakonomics Radio, Selected Shorts, Studio 360, The New Yorker Radio Hour and The Takeaway. In 2017, Matt launched the language podcast Very Bad Words, hitting the #28 spot in the iTunes podcast charts.

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