Alice Trillin died on September 11, 2001, at the New York Presbyterian Hospital from heart failure resulting from radiation damage sustained when she was treated for lung cancer in 1976. Eight months before her demise, Trillin's essay "Betting your life" on doctors, illness and family was published in "The New Yorker". Her death was largely overlooked by the media due to its taking place the same day as the September 11th attacks.