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Lynja

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Lynja
Davis's YouTube channel profile picture
Personal information
Born
Lynn T. Yamada

(1956-07-31)July 31, 1956
New York City, U.S.
DiedJanuary 1, 2024(2024-01-01) (aged 67)
Red Bank, New Jersey, U.S.
NationalityAmerican
Other namesLynja
Occupation(s)TikToker, influencer, chef
Children4, including Sean
YouTube information
Channel
Years active2012–2024
Genres
  • Comedy
  • entertainment
  • vlogs
  • gaming
  • reaction
Subscribers
  • 9.86 million
[1]
Total views
  • 4.02 billion
[1]
Associated acts
100,000 subscribers
1,000,000 subscribers
Last updated: January 12, 2024

Lynn Yamada Davis (July 31, 1956 – January 1, 2024), better known by her online alias Lynja, was an American celebrity chef who was best known for her viral TikTok and YouTube Shorts videos. Praised for its quick-styled edits and references to internet memes, "Cooking with Lynja" accumulated over 9.8 million subscribers on YouTube and 19.1 million followers on TikTok.

As a graduate of MIT, worked at Davis worked at AT&T Labs for 29 years. Her interest in video-making flourished in 2020, when she was 63. Ever since her videos grew viral, she won three Streamy Awards.

Early life and education

Lynn T. 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 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] Following her graduation, 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] The videos were praised for its quick editing and references to viral memes, including a reference to the Grimace Shake trend.[10] In 2021, "Cooking with Lynja" won "Best Editing" at the 11th Streamy Awards.[11] The next year, "Cooking with Lynja" won "Best Food" and "Best Editing" at the 12th Streamy Awards.[12] During the same year, Davis signed with WME[13] and was featured on Forbes Top 50 creators list.[8]

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).[14][15][16][17] She broke several other records with DiGiovanni, including the world's largest chicken nugget, which weighed 20.96 kg (46.2 lb),[18] and the world's largest sushi roll, which measured at 2.15 metres (7 ft 1 in) in diameter.[19] 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 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 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.[20] Nick Digiovanni also made a farewell video in honor of Lynja titled “Goodbye Lynja” in which he showed his favorite memories of being with her.

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 sons, Sean and Tim. Sean is a professional soccer player for MLS side Nashville SC.[2]

Notes

  1. ^ Hannah was named Hannah Mariko Steinberg at her high school graduation.[21]

References

  1. ^ a b "About Cooking With Lynja". YouTube.
  2. ^ 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.
  3. ^ 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.
  4. ^ "Memorial Post Elects Officers". The Record. June 30, 1970. p. 7. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  5. ^ "College Commencements". The News. June 23, 1977. p. 48. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  6. ^ Matys, Lorraine (January 6, 1977). "Newspaper gets new chief". The Record. p. 11. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  7. ^ a b Weiss, Sabrina (January 12, 2024). "Lynn Yamada Davis, 'Cooking with Lynja' TikTok Star, Dead at 67". People.
  8. ^ a b c "Lynn Yamada Davis (Lynja)". Forbes. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  9. ^ Makalintal, Bettina (July 24, 2020). "I Want This TikTok Grandma to Teach Me Everything About Food". Vice. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  10. ^ Murray, Conor (June 28, 2023). "The McDonald's Grimace Shake's Viral (And Gruesome) TikTok Trend, Explained". Forbes. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  11. ^ "11th Annual Streamy Winners and Nominees". The Streamy Awards. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  12. ^ "12th Annual Streamy Nominees". The Streamy Awards. Archived from the original on October 30, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  13. ^ Hale, James (August 24, 2022). "The internet's "cooking grandma" Lynja signs with WME (Exclusive)". Tubefilter. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  14. ^ "TikTok stars Nick DiGiovanni and Lynja create world's largest cake pop". Guinness World Records. January 28, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  15. ^ "TikTokers team up to make world's largest cake pop". UPI. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  16. ^ "Wait, What? Chefs Make Giant 44 KG Cake Pop; Set Guinness World Record". NDTV Food. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  17. ^ "TikTokers bake world's largest-ever cake pop at nearly 100 pounds". pennlive. January 31, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  18. ^ "TikTok stars Nick DiGiovanni and Lynja create world's largest chicken nugget". Guinness World Records. June 11, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
  19. ^ "Fastest time to fillet a 10 lb fish". Guinness World Records. October 7, 2022. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  20. ^ You’re the best mom I could have ever asked for but an even better friend. I love you mom ❤️, retrieved January 12, 2024
  21. ^ "2004 Holmdel Graduation". Asbury Park Press. June 26, 2004. p. 102. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
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