Lynn Yamada Davis, the beloved social media star behind Cooking with Lynja, has died. She was 67 years old.
Davis died on January 1 at Riverview Medical Center in New Jersey. Her daughter Hannah Mariko Shofet told The New York Times that the cause of death was esophageal cancer.
Davis was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2019 and esophageal cancer in 2021, according to The New York Times.
The content creator was known for her exaggerated, comically edited cooking videos on TikTok, Instagram and YouTube, which started during the Covid-19 pandemic. The mother of four and grandmother of two told PEOPLE last summer that she “had no idea” what TikTok was before her son Tim started posting her videos there.
Davis’ son, a videographer, asked her to participate in a casual month-long project of making videos every day at the start of the pandemic. But as the lockdown continued, the mother-son duo continued to create cooking videos for YouTube and eventually TikTok with Tim behind the camera and Davis in the spotlight.
“He is the one who writes the script. He’s the one who makes the videos. He does all the editing. So he really is the genius behind Cooking with Lynja. I just show up,” Davis said.
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A few months after she started sharing the clips, the former software engineer’s wacky bacon, egg and cheese recipe video blew up online, and her fame “just started to grow after that.”
Now, more than three years later, the Cooking with Lynja TikTok page has 17.5 million followers, her YouTube account has nearly 10 million subscribers, and her Instagram account has more than two million.
Before becoming a social media star, Davis had a long career as an engineer. After going to the Massachusetts Institute of Technology for undergrad, she worked for the federal government to make federal buildings accessible. She then earned her MBA and MPH from Columbia University before working at AT&T Labs. She was a systems engineer and project manager during her 29 years here.
“She had this whole chapter as a groundbreaking female engineer and she was very proud of it,” Shofet said The New York Times.
Davis told PEOPLE that while the comments from fans asking her to be their grandmother are sweet, the travel opportunities have been one of her favorite parts of her internet fame.
Meet the viral grandmas who rose to fame on TikTok with their cooking videos
She traveled to Japan with frequent collaborator and fellow foodie TikToker Nick DiGiovanni last summer. Davis flew to the 2022 Forbes Women’s Summit in the United Arab Emirates, where she was named one of Forbes’ 50 Top 50 Creators and won a Streamy Award in the editing and food categories.
More than traveling the world, Davis loved how she was able to spend time with her family while cooking with Lynja.
“This is definitely a big family thing for us, and it’s really nice,” she said. “We have a lot of family memories from that time. It’s just wonderful.”
Since her death, her social media accounts have remained active. Davis asked Tim to continue posting edited videos, he alleges The New York Times. The account will stop publishing after the last Cooking with Lynja videos featuring Davis are uploaded, Tim told the outlet.
“It’s a pleasure to wake up and know you’re going to have a good day,” Davis said of her life as an influencer. “This is a nice change in my life, definitely.”
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Source: HIS Education