Wikipedia

Lynja

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]

Lynja
A woman wearing glasses and a checked red and black shirt holds a plate of waffles with strawberries, whipped cream, syrup, and powdered sugar
Lynja's YouTube 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.
Other namesLynn Yamada Davis
Occupation(s)Chef, engineer
Children4, including Sean
YouTube information
Channel
Genres
  • Comedy
  • entertainment
  • vlogs
  • reaction
  • cooking
Subscribers
  • 12.8 million
[1]
Total views
  • 4.99 billion
[1]
Associated acts
100,000 subscribers2020
1,000,000 subscribers2021
10,000,000 subscribers2024
Last updated: June 22, 2024

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.

Early life and career

Lynn T. Yamada was born in New York City on July 31, 1956 to Mabel Fujisake and Tadao Yamada.[3] She was a third-generation Japanese-American and grew up in Fort Lee, New Jersey.[4][5]

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]

Awards and nominations

Year Ceremony Category Result Ref.
2021 11th Streamy Awards Editing Won [12]
Food Nominated
2022 12th Streamy Awards Editing Won [13]
Food Won
2023 13th Streamy Awards Editing Nominated [23]
Food Nominated

References

  1. ^ a b "About Cooking With Lynja". YouTube.
  2. ^ "@cookingwithlynja". TikTok. Archived from the original on January 16, 2024. Retrieved June 27, 2024.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g 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.
  4. ^ a b c Rosario, Alexandra Del (January 12, 2024). "Lynn Yamada Davis, TikTok chef known for playful 'Cooking With Lynja' videos, dies". Los Angeles Times. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  5. ^ "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.
  6. ^ Fox, Julie (January 22, 2021). "Cooking with Lynja Turns Retired MIT Engineer into Internet Celebrity". Archived from the original on January 13, 2024. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  7. ^ 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.
  8. ^ a b Weiss, Sabrina (January 12, 2024). "Lynn Yamada Davis, 'Cooking with Lynja' TikTok Star, Dead at 67". People. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  9. ^ a b c "Lynn Yamada Davis (Lynja)". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 13, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  10. ^ a b Makalintal, Bettina (July 24, 2020). "I Want This TikTok Grandma to Teach Me Everything About Food". Vice. Archived from the original on January 12, 2024. Retrieved January 12, 2024.
  11. ^ Murray, Conor (June 28, 2023). "The McDonald's Grimace Shake's Viral (And Gruesome) TikTok Trend, Explained". Forbes. Archived from the original on January 13, 2024. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  12. ^ a b "11th Annual Streamy Winners and Nominees". The Streamy Awards. Archived from the original on October 20, 2021. Retrieved December 12, 2021.
  13. ^ a b "12th Annual Streamy Nominees". The Streamy Awards. Archived from the original on October 30, 2022. Retrieved December 6, 2022.
  14. ^ a b Hale, James (August 24, 2022). "The internet's "cooking grandma" Lynja signs with WME (Exclusive)". Tubefilter. Archived from the original on June 1, 2023. Retrieved January 13, 2024.
  15. ^ "TikTok stars Nick DiGiovanni and Lynja create world's largest cake pop". Guinness World Records. January 28, 2022. Archived from the original on February 25, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  16. ^ "TikTokers team up to make world's largest cake pop". UPI. Archived from the original on March 20, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  17. ^ "Wait, What? Chefs Make Giant 44 KG Cake Pop; Set Guinness World Record". NDTV Food. Archived from the original on December 30, 2021. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  18. ^ "TikTokers bake world's largest-ever cake pop at nearly 100 pounds". pennlive. January 31, 2022. Archived from the original on April 16, 2022. Retrieved March 20, 2022.
  19. ^ "TikTok stars Nick DiGiovanni and Lynja create world's largest chicken nugget". Guinness World Records. June 11, 2022. Archived from the original on November 28, 2022. Retrieved November 28, 2022.
  20. ^ "Fastest time to fillet a 10 lb fish". Guinness World Records. October 7, 2022. Archived from the original on January 16, 2023. Retrieved January 16, 2023.
  21. ^ Tabachnick, Cara (January 12, 2024). "Lynn Yamada Davis, Cooking with Lynja TikTok chef, dies at age 67". CBS News. Archived from the original on January 13, 2024. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  22. ^ McCarthy, Kelly (January 12, 2024). "Creators pay tribute to TikTok chef Lynn Yamada Davis, host of 'Cooking With Lynja' who died at 67". Good Morning America. Archived from the original on January 14, 2024. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
  23. ^ "13th Annual Streamy Winners". The Streamy Awards. Archived from the original on September 1, 2023. Retrieved January 14, 2024.
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