Lynn Yamada Davis Dies: Star Of Social Media’s ‘Cooking with Lynja’ Was 67

Lynn Yamada Davis, who some called the internet’s grandmother for her presence on the Cooking with Lynja streaming show, died Jan. 1 at Riverview Medical Center in New Jersey. She was 67 and had esophageal cancer according to her daughter, Hannah Mariko Shofet.

Davis was diagnosed with throat cancer in 2019 and diagnosed with esophageal cancer in 2021, per The New York Times.

Her funny cooking videos on TikTok, Instagram, and YouTube, began during the Covid-19 pandemic. Her son, Tim, started posting videos of her, and the momentum caused the audience to grow to 17.5 million on her TikTok page, 10 million on her YouTube account, and more than two million on Instagram.

Davis’s videographer son, Tim, provided the script, camera and editing duties. “I just show up,” Davis claimed.

Prior to her social media stardom, Davis had a long career as an engineer. She was a systems engineer and project manager during her 29 years with AT&T Labs.

In 2022, she won a Streamy Award for the editing and food categories.