Lynn Yamada Davis, a TikTok creator who entertained millions of people with her crazy style and cooking tips on her account “Cooking With Lynja,” died Jan. 1 in Riverbank, New Jersey, at age 67.
The cause of death at Riverview Medical Center was esophageal cancer, said her daughter, Hannah Mariko Shofet. Ms. Davis lived in Holmdel, New Jersey
Ms. Davis began creating the wholesome “Cooking With Lynja” videos in 2020 with her youngest child, Tim Davis, to help him maintain his filmmaking skills during the pandemic lockdown.
Her social media accounts remained active after her death as she had asked him to post already edited videos. One such video shows the two looking for truffles in Italy.
“My mother was like my partner in crime,” Mr. Davis, 27, who ran the TikTok account, said in a telephone interview.
She also asked, Mr. Davis said, that he post some older videos they made together about a decade ago.
These early versions of what later became an international TikTok sensation known for his lightheartedness were a way for Mr. Davis to learn how to cook the food his mother cooked, “and also have a time capsule.” he said.
Once the final “Cooking With Lynja” videos are uploaded, the account will no longer post, he said.
Cooking With Lynja began in 2020 and gained widespread attention with a video in which the 5-foot-tall Ms. Davis prepares a bacon, egg and cheese sandwich while performing some quirky dance moves. Soon, around a million people were following her edgy content. (Today, the account has more than 17 million followers.) Potential sponsors noticed the success of the videos and began contacting her.
More than three years later, the YouTube account “Cooking With Lynja” has nearly 10 million subscribers and Ms. Davis’ Instagram account has more than two million followers.
In 2022, Forbes included Ms. Davis in its annual “50 over 50” list, which recognizes successful women over 50. And she won the Streamy Awards honoring online videos in the editing and food categories. In 2023, she attended the Forbes Women's Summit in Abu Dhabi, where she spoke on a panel.
Lynn Yamada Davis was born on July 31, 1956 in New York City and lived most of her early life in Fort Lee, New Jersey. Her father, Tadao Yamada, was a businessman, and her mother, Mabel Fujisake Yamada, ran the household.
She graduated from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1977 with a bachelor's degree in civil engineering and earned master's degrees in business administration and public health from Columbia University Business School.
Ms. Davis worked for Bell Labs (now AT&T Labs) and had a long career in telecommunications before unexpectedly becoming famous on TikTok, said Ms. Shofet, her daughter.
“She had this whole chapter as a pioneering engineer and was very proud of it,” she added.
As a TikTok star, Ms. Davis became known around the world, including in Japan and Italy, where she traveled with her youngest son, Tim. Sean Davis, their other son, is a professional soccer player who was formerly a midfielder for the New York Red Bulls and now plays for the Nashville Soccer Club.
“She was my first coach,” he said. When she visited him in Nashville, he said, she was recognized on the street, often by young people who were frequent TikTok users.
“It made me realize how famous she was,” Sean Davis said. “People asked for pictures and I took the photo.”
“Ms. Davis especially enjoyed cooking with Lynja,” said Tim Davis. With special effects that featured tiny versions of Ms. Davis flying across the screen and quotes like “Lynja has what it takes!”, her videos appealed to multiple generations of viewers. In her videos, you can see her preparing all sorts of foods, sinking her teeth into crispy sandwiches or potatoes, karate-cutting ramen noodles, and more.
Ms. Davis was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2019, which affected her voice. Two years later she was diagnosed with esophageal cancer. In one video, Ms. Davis bakes cookies for the medical workers who treated her.
In addition to her daughter Hannah and sons, Ms. Davis is survived by her second husband, Keith Davis; another daughter, Becky Steinberg; two siblings, Jay Yamada and Karen Dolce Yamada; and two grandchildren. Her first marriage to Hank Steinberg ended in divorce.
In her final years, Ms. Davis was able to travel the world, meet people and cook and eat amazing food, Sean Davis said. He added: “I just think her final chapter was exactly what she would have wanted.”