One Year Later: Tatiana Schlossberg’s Courageous Final Essay Continues to Inspire Amid Grief

By Rebecca Ellis, National Correspondent

New York, NY – January 5, 2026

One year after its publication, Tatiana Schlossberg’s poignant essay in The New Yorker remains a beacon of raw honesty, vulnerability, and resilience. The environmental journalist and granddaughter of President John F. Kennedy passed away on December 30, 2025, at age 35, just weeks after sharing her terminal battle with acute myeloid leukemia (AML). Her words, penned in the face of unimaginable pain, transformed personal tragedy into a powerful call for connection, empathy, and policy change—giving voice to countless families facing similar struggles.

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Schlossberg, daughter of Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, revealed her diagnosis in the November 22, 2025, essay titled “A Battle With My Blood.” Published on the 62nd anniversary of her grandfather’s assassination, the piece detailed the shock of learning she had a rare mutation of AML shortly after giving birth to her daughter in May 2024. “My first thought was that this couldn’t be happening to me, to my family,” she wrote, describing rounds of chemotherapy, two stem cell transplants, and clinical trials that extended her life but offered no cure.

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Tatiana Schlossberg Submitted a Heartbreaking Essay to The New …

At the heart of the essay was Schlossberg’s profound love for her young children—a son born in 2022 and her newborn daughter—and her anguish that they might not remember her. “My kids, whose faces live permanently on the inside of my eyelids, wouldn’t remember me,” she confessed. She reflected on the psychological toll, replaying memories as if preparing for the end, while grappling with adding “another tragedy” to her mother’s life, already marked by profound loss.

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Tatiana Schlossberg, granddaughter of JFK, has died – ABC News

Schlossberg’s vulnerability struck a chord globally. New Yorker editor David Remnick called it “the most honest essay imaginable,” praising her “heart and intelligence.” It topped the magazine’s most-read list for 2025, sparking conversations about motherhood, mortality, and mental health. Readers shared stories of their own battles, crediting her for granting “permission to speak, feel, and hope again.”

The essay also addressed broader issues, including a pointed critique of her cousin, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. As she relied on federally funded treatments, Schlossberg expressed fury over his cuts to nearly half a billion dollars in mRNA vaccine research—technology with potential cancer applications. “As I spent more and more of my life under the care of doctors… I watched as Bobby cut [funding],” she wrote, calling his actions harmful to patients like her.

This political dimension amplified the essay’s impact, highlighting tensions within the Kennedy family and fueling debates on health policy. Supporters lauded her courage; critics debated the intersection of personal grief and public discourse.

A Yale and Oxford graduate, Schlossberg was an acclaimed environmental journalist, formerly with The New York Times. Her 2019 book Inconspicuous Consumption explored hidden climate impacts, earning awards for its accessible insight.

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Tributes poured in after her death. Maria Shriver called her “valiant, strong, courageous,” emphasizing her environmental legacy. The family statement read: “Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning. She will always be in our hearts.”

Surviving her are husband George Moran, children Edwin and Josephine, parents Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, and siblings Jack and Rose. As the anniversary approaches, her essay endures—not just as a farewell, but as an act of courage, compassion, and love that continues to connect and heal.