Tatiana Schlossberg, the environmental journalist who used her prominent platform to illuminate the hidden costs of climate change and ordinary consumption, died Tuesday morning following a courageous battle with a rare form of leukemia. She was 35.
Her passing was confirmed by the John F. Kennedy Library Foundation in a social media post on behalf of her family. “Our beautiful Tatiana passed away this morning,” the statement read. “She will always be in our hearts.” The announcement was signed by her husband, George Moran, their children, her parents Caroline Kennedy and Edwin Schlossberg, and her siblings, Jack and Rose.
A Diagnosis in the Shadow of Joy
The tragedy of Schlossberg’s death is deepened by its timing. In a poignant and widely discussed essay published in The New Yorker in November 2025, titled “A Battle with My Blood,” Schlossberg revealed she had been diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia (AML) in May 2024—just days after giving birth to her second child, Josephine.
- The Medical Fight: Schlossberg wrote with unflinching detail about undergoing rounds of chemotherapy, two stem cell transplants (including one from her sister, Rose), and participating in experimental clinical trials.
- The Rare Mutation: Her cancer carried a rare “Inversion 3” mutation, typically seen in much older patients, which rendered her prognosis terminal.
- The Mother’s Grief: “Now I have added a new tragedy to her life, to our family’s life, and there’s nothing I can do to stop it,” she wrote of her mother, Caroline Kennedy, who famously lost her father, President John F. Kennedy, at age five and her brother, John Jr., in 1999.
A Final Political Stand
Schlossberg’s final months were marked by an uncharacteristic pivot into the political arena. In her New Yorker essay, she used her personal experience as a cancer patient to criticize the policies of her cousin, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., then serving as Secretary of Health and Human Services.
She specifically targeted the administration’s cuts to medical research and the “review” of essential medications. “I watched as Bobby cut nearly a half billion dollars for research into mRNA vaccines,” she wrote, noting that such technology is critical for future cancer treatments. Her critique was echoed by her mother, Caroline, who had publicly urged the Senate to reject RFK Jr.’s confirmation.
Reporting on the ‘Inconspicuous’
Beyond her family name, Schlossberg was a respected voice in environmental journalism. A graduate of Yale and Oxford, she was a former climate reporter for The New York Times and the author of the 2019 book “Inconspicuous Consumption.”
- The Author: Her book, which won the Society of Environmental Journalists’ Rachel Carson Award, argued that climate change is sustained by systems—like data centers and fashion supply chains—rather than just individual choices.
- The Ocean Book: At the time of her diagnosis, she had been planning a second book focused on the preservation of the world’s oceans.
- The Mother: Even as she grew weaker, Schlossberg emphasized that her primary goal was to ensure her children—son Edwin and daughter Josephine—remembered her not just as a patient, but as a writer who loved the planet.
The End of a Generation’s Hope
With her death, the Kennedy family loses one of its most intellectual and private members. Unlike her brother Jack, who has recently signaled a move into politics, Tatiana preferred the relative anonymity of the newsroom and the quiet life she built with her husband, George Moran, whom she married at Martha’s Vineyard in 2017.
As the nation mourns the loss of another “child of Camelot” taken too soon, Schlossberg’s final words from her essay offer a haunting benediction: “I will keep trying to remember. I will keep pretending that I’ll remember this when I’m dead.”