Burley Coulter is a down-to-earth gentle man who, like his name, is strong and large, but a teddy bear underneath. Something of a father figure to Jayber Crow, Burley is the first person to see and remember Jayber when he is trying to make his way back through the great flood to his childhood home. Burly seems to foresee Jayber's role in the community as a barber, escorting him to the banker and the old barber shop, where Jayber ends up spending more than thirty years. Burley feels strongly that Jayber should live in the same place where he works. Jayber realizes later that Burley is proud of him for being a reader, thus sealing the image of Burley as a somewhat doting father.