In 2011, after Kara Kennedy’s death, her mother Joan remembered her as “my best friend” and recalled a happy summer they spent together in Hyannisport. Joan’s words were reported at the time; she died in 2025, aged 89.
What Joan Kennedy said about her daughter
Speaking to ABC News in 2011, Joan Kennedy described Kara as “my daughter” and “my best friend.” She recalled that Kara stayed with her all summer in Hyannisport: “We had a wonderful summer together.” The Boston Globe also reported Joan’s description of the summer as happy for both of them.
Joan said Kara had been in wonderful health, expressing the shock of a mother facing her daughter’s unexpected death. Her recollections were made shortly after Kara died; they are not later comments or a newly published interview.
Who was Kara Kennedy?
Kara Anne Kennedy was born on February 27, 1960, to Joan and Senator Edward M. Kennedy. She graduated from Tufts University in 1983, worked in television, and later moved into film production and nonprofit service. Her father’s memoir, True Compass, offers his perspective on Kara; it is not Joan’s memoir or Kara’s own testimony.
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Kara worked on projects for VSA arts and was involved with the National Organization on Fetal Alcohol Syndrome. She also volunteered with N Street Village and other organizations. In a Senate tribute on September 21, 2011, Senator Dick Durbin called her “committed to helping those less fortunate than herself.”
Her cancer diagnosis and death
Kara was diagnosed with serious lung cancer in 2002. Her family’s obituary said she underwent aggressive surgery, chemotherapy, and radiation, and had been in remission since then. ABC News reported that Joan had said in 2007 that Kara was cancer-free and running five miles a day; that was a dated account of her health, not a description of her condition in 2011.
Kara died on September 16, 2011, aged 51. Her family obituary described her death as unexpected and from natural causes. Contemporary reports said she collapsed after a workout and quoted her brother Patrick Kennedy saying cancer treatment had weakened her. ABC News also quoted a cardiologist explaining that chest radiation and chemotherapy can carry heart risks, but the physician had not treated Kara. Those comments did not establish the cause of her death.
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The Associated Press reported that Joan Kennedy died on October 8, 2025, aged 89. Its obituary described her as a pianist and author and recalled her general advice about grief: “I do advise listening to music when you’re in grief,” she said. “Music has give me a lot of courage to carry on.” That reflection concerned grief broadly, not specifically Kara.
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