Lynja
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Lynja | ||||||||||
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Personal information | ||||||||||
Born | Lynn Yamada July 31, 1956 New York City, U.S. | |||||||||
Died | January 6, 2024 Red Bank, New Jersey, U.S. | (aged 67)|||||||||
Nationality | American | |||||||||
Other names | Lynja | |||||||||
Occupation(s) | TikToker, influencer, chef | |||||||||
Children | 4, including Sean | |||||||||
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Channel | ||||||||||
Years active | 2012–2023 | |||||||||
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Last updated: January 12, 2024 |
Lynn Yamada Davis (July 31, 1956 – January 6, 2024), better known by her online alias Lynja, was an American celebrity chef who was best known for her viral TikTok videos.
Early life and education
Yamada was born in New York City on July 31, 1956, to Mabel Fujisake and Tadao Yamada.[2] She was a third-generation Japanese-American.[3] She has spent much of her youth in Fort Lee, New Jersey, attending Fort Lee High School.[4] She attended MIT, earning a degree in civil engineering in 1977.[2][5] During her time at MIT, she was the chairwoman for The Tech student newspaper.[6] She was employed by the government and worked to ensure the accessibility of federal buildings.[7] She went on to earn degrees in public health and business administration from Columbia Business School.[2]
Davis worked at AT&T Labs for 29 years as a project manager and systems engineer.[7]
TikTok videos
Davis began creating videos for TikTok in 2020, when she was 63.[8] 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.[9] He helped shoot and edit each of her "Cooking with Lynja" videos since 2020.[2] In 2022, "Cooking with Lynja" won "Best Food" and "Best Editing" at the 12th Streamy Awards.[10]
She frequently collaborated with 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).[11][12][13][14] She broke several other records with DiGiovanni, including the world's largest chicken nugget, which weighed 20.96 kg (46.2 lb),[15] and the world's largest sushi roll, which measured at 2.15 metres (7 ft 1 in) in diameter.[16] She was named to Forbes "50 Over 50" list in 2023.[8] Her fans are called "Lynja-turtles", a pun of Ninja Turtles.[3]
Illness and death
In 2019, Davis was diagnosed with throat cancer, which caused her voice to change. In 2021, she was also diagnosed with esophageal cancer. She died at Riverview Medical Center on January 1, 2024, at the age of 67 from complications of esophageal cancer.[2] Her death was announced on social media by her son in a post in which he shared photos and memories of her life.[17]
Personal life
Davis lived in Holmdel, New Jersey. She married Hank Steinberg, and had two daughters, Becky and Hannah.[a] They divorced and she then married Keith Davis. They had two children, Sean and Tim.[2]
References
- ^ a b "About Cooking With Lynja". YouTube.
- ^ a b c d e f Moses, Claire (January 12, 2024). "Lynn Yamada Davis, Whose Cooking TikToks Delighted Millions, Dies at 67". The New York Times. Archived from the original on January 13, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
- ^ a b Rosario, Alexandra Del (January 12, 2024). "Lynn Yamada Davis, TikTok chef known for playful 'Cooking With Lynja' videos, dies". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
- ^ "Memorial Post Elects Officers". The Record. June 30, 1970. p. 7. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
- ^ "College Commencements". The News. June 23, 1977. p. 48. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
- ^ Matys, Lorraine (January 6, 1977). "Newspaper gets new chief". The Record. p. 11. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
- ^ a b Weiss, Sabrina (January 12, 2024). "Lynn Yamada Davis, 'Cooking with Lynja' TikTok Star, Dead at 67". People.
- ^ a b "Lynn Yamada Davis (Lynja)". Forbes. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
- ^ Makalintal, Bettina (July 24, 2020). "I Want This TikTok Grandma to Teach Me Everything About Food". Vice. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
- ^ "12th Annual Streamy Nominees". The Streamy Awards. Archived from the original on October 30, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
- ^ "TikTok stars Nick DiGiovanni and Lynja create world's largest cake pop". Guinness World Records. January 28, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
- ^ "TikTokers team up to make world's largest cake pop". UPI. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
- ^ "Wait, What? Chefs Make Giant 44 KG Cake Pop; Set Guinness World Record". NDTV Food. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
- ^ "TikTokers bake world's largest-ever cake pop at nearly 100 pounds". pennlive. January 31, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
- ^ "TikTok stars Nick DiGiovanni and Lynja create world's largest chicken nugget". Guinness World Records. June 11, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
- ^ "Fastest time to fillet a 10 lb fish". Guinness World Records. October 7, 2022. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
- ^ You’re the best mom I could have ever asked for but an even better friend. I love you mom ❤️, retrieved January 12, 2024
- ^ "2004 Holmdel Graduation". Asbury Park Press. June 26, 2004. p. 102. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
Notes
- Recent deaths
- 1956 births
- 2024 deaths
- American TikTokers
- American people of Japanese descent
- Streamy Award winners
- Deaths from esophageal cancer
- Fort Lee High School alumni
- Massachusetts Institute of Technology alumni
- Columbia Business School alumni
- AT&T people
- People from Fort Lee, New Jersey
- Chefs from New York City
- Deaths from cancer in New Jersey