Lynn T. Yamada Davis (July 31, 1956 – January 1, 2024), better known by her online alias Lynja, was an American online celebrity chef who was known for her viral TikTok and YouTube Shorts videos. Praised for her quick-styled editing and references to popular internet memes, "Cooking with Lynja" accumulated over 12.8 million subscribers on YouTube and over 21.8 million followers on TikTok as of June 27, 2024.[2]
Davis earned degrees from MIT and Columbia Business School. She worked at AT&T Labs for 29 years. Her interest in video-making flourished in 2020, when she was 63. Since going viral, she won three Streamy Awards and built up a fanbase of dedicated viewers.
She attended the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), earning a degree in civil engineering in 1977.[3][6] During her time at MIT, she was the chairwoman for The Tech student newspaper.[7] Following her graduation, she was employed by the government and worked to ensure the accessibility of federal buildings.[8] She went on to earn degrees in public health and business administration from Columbia Business School.[3]
Davis worked at AT&T Labs (then Bell Labs) for 29 years as a project manager and systems engineer.[8]
Online career
Davis began creating videos for TikTok in 2020 when she was 63.[9] The idea for the videos came from her youngest son, Tim Davis, who was honing his video editing skills, while they were in lockdown during the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.[10] He helped shoot and edit each of her "Cooking with Lynja" videos since 2020.[3] The videos were praised by Vice for their simple recipes, clever editing techniques and writing style.[10] The videos also reference viral memes, including the Grimace Shake trend.[11] In 2021, "Cooking with Lynja" won "Best Editing" at the 11th Streamy Awards.[12] The next year, "Cooking with Lynja" won "Best Food" and "Best Editing" at the 12th Streamy Awards.[13] In 2022, Davis signed with WME[14] and was featured on Forbes Top 50 creators list.[9]
She frequently collaborated with fellow internet celebrity chef Nick DiGiovanni, including a video in November 2021 where they broke the Guinness World Record for the largest ever cake pop, which weighed 97 pounds 8.52 ounces (44.240 kg).[15][16][17][18] She broke several other records with DiGiovanni, including the world's largest chicken nugget, which weighed 20.96 kg (46.2 lb)[19] and the world's largest sushi roll, which measured at 2.15 metres (7 ft 1 in) in diameter.[20] She was named to Forbes "50 Over 50" list in 2023.[9] Her fans are called "Lynja-turtles", a play on words to the Ninja Turtles.[4]
Personal life
Davis lived in Holmdel Township, New Jersey. Davis married Hank Steinberg, having two daughters together, though the marriage ended in divorce. Following their divorce, she married Keith Davis with whom she had two sons, professional soccer player Sean Davis and "Cooking with Lynja" editor Tim Davis.[3]
Illness and death
In 2019, Davis was diagnosed with throat cancer, which caused her voice to change.[3] Davis likened her new voice to Marge Simpson's voice.[14] In 2021, she announced that she was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. Subsequently, she made a video called "Cookies for Cancer" in which she made cookies in celebration of finishing her cancer treatment. The cancer returned in 2023 and she died from complications of the disease at Riverview Medical Center in Red Bank, New Jersey on January 1, 2024 at the age of 67.[3] A private funeral, attended by close friends and family members, was held on January 9, three days before her death was announced on social media by her son in a post in which he shared photos and memories of her life.[4][21] Later that day, fellow celebrity chef Nick DiGiovanni made a farewell video in honor of Lynja showcasing his favorite memories of being with her.[22]
^"N.J.'s Lynn Yamada Davis, star of Cooking With Lynja TikTok videos, dies at 67, report says". nj. January 13, 2024. Archived from the original on January 14, 2024. Retrieved January 14, 2024. Davis was born on July 31, 1956, in New York City and lived most of her early life in Fort Lee, before she attended and graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering.
^Matys, Lorraine (January 6, 1977). "Newspaper gets new chief". The Record. p. 11. Archived from the original on January 13, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
