Burl Gilyard, a respected fixture in the Twin Cities media scene and former TCB staffer, died Thursday. He was 58.

Gilyard, described as a “laconic and funny writer” in the late New York Times reporter David Carr’s memoir “The Night of the Gun,” was a masterful storyteller who never seemed to run out of ideas. Whether he was covering commercial real estate or the medical device industry, Gilyard owned his beats and developed trusted, long-lasting relationships with sources.

Gilyard’s career in local media included stints at alt weeklies the Twin Cities Reader and City Pages, as well as business publications Corporate Report, Finance & Commerce, and TCB. He departed TCB in October 2021 for the Minnesota Star Tribune, where he worked until he went on medical leave in late 2024.

When he called power players in local real estate, they picked up, says Finance & Commerce staff writer Brian Johnson, who worked alongside Gilyard at the newspaper in the 2000s. “He was the most plugged-in commercial real estate guy in town at the time,” Johnson recalls. “He knew his beat inside and out.”

A progressive neuromuscular disease known as adrenomyeloneuropathy would limit his physical mobility over the years, but Gilyard’s reporting never slowed. By the time he joined Finance & Commerce in 2004, he had begun using a cane. That didn’t stop him from showing up to building tours and groundbreakings, Johnson says. “He’d get around to different events. He wasn’t confined to the office,” he says.

When he joined TCB’s staff as senior writer in July 2013, Gilyard continued reporting in the community, even as he switched from a cane to a walker. Nick Halter, a reporter for Axios Twin Cities and former Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal staffer, crossed paths with him many times when the two covered various commercial real estate happenings and press conferences in town. “He was a persistent journalist,” Halter recalls. “He would ask lots of questions at press conferences. He was skeptical, but wouldn’t get confrontational. I enjoyed any time we were interviewing people together.”

Gilyard was a reporter’s reporter, liked by colleagues and competitors alike. During his time at TCB, he took on web briefs, print features, and cover stories with flair, finesse, and unmatched energy. His work included reports on elusive real estate developer Ned Abdul, the impact of housing density on housing affordability, and the nascent coworking industry in the Twin Cities. He broke news and spotted trends before others noticed them.

“Despite increasing mobility challenges, Burl pushed back against those limitations, even showing up at the office on snow days, navigating the sloppy streets of downtown with his walker,” says TCB executive editor Adam Platt. “Those of us who worked with Burl remember his wry, often dark sense of humor, his voluminous knowledge of music both good and bad, and the large collection of soda bottle recycling on his desk.”

Brian Lambert, former editor at the Twin Cities Reader, never worked in the same newsroom at the same time as Gilyard, but the two became acquainted through media circles in town. Lambert remembers Gilyard as a straight shooter: “You could talk with him about damn near anything and never get the feeling he was bullshitting you about some expertise he didn’t have. And he was funny,” Lambert wrote in a Facebook post on Thursday.

Lambert emphasized that Gilyard never let his health conditions define him.

“He was also a walking embodiment of stoicism,” Lambert wrote. “Despite spending the bulk of his adult life moving with a cane and then a walker, I never once heard Burl breathe a tone of self-pity. … And not only didn’t he complain, he was resolute about making his own way, to the point it was a bit of a breach of protocol to open doors for him or give him a ride.”

Amy Koliner, senior account executive for TCB sister publication Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, recalls Gilyard as an affable colleague. “I remember my first day at Mpls.St.Paul Magazine, he made his way over to the office I was in just to say hello and welcome me as a former City Pages colleague,” she says.

Allison Kaplan, TCB’s editor-in-chief, describes Gilyard as “the consummate newsman—dogged, competitive, and fair.”

“Before most of us could drink our morning coffee, he had already poured through newspapers, press releases, and sent a flurry of emails with potential story ideas,” Kaplan says. “He was a prolific and gifted journalist whose writing was as down to earth as he was.”

A GoFundMe page for Burl Gillyard’s medical expenses can be found here, and a benefit concert will be held June 1 at the Hook and Ladder Theater & Lounge.