Joseph Kevin Foster IV (born February 29, 1960), known as Kevin Foster, is a mountain biker best known for his 1990 tour across the Great Wall of China; his 1993-1995 tour of the highest points in the United States; and his 1997 tour across Cuba. Before finding fame as a bicyclist, he worked in the New York area as an actor and writer. In recent years, he has returned to the entertainment industry as an actor, writer, and producer.
Early life
Foster was born in Waterbury, Connecticut, to Joseph Adrian, an accountant, and Stella Lucia (née Vicedomini), a homemaker. His siblings included a younger brother and two younger sisters. His heritage is English, Irish, and Welsh from his father's side, and Spanish, Italian, and Jewish from his mother. Foster was raised in a predominantly Italian household in the North End section of Waterbury, later living in several nearby towns. Foster's mother gave her children a strong religious background that began as Catholic (he was an altar boy) and then moved on to Lutheran and Episcopalian (where he sang in the children's choir).
In 1968, Foster received an electric shock from a live wire and fell approximately 30 feet. His memory was erased, and doctors told Foster's parents that he would never walk again. Foster did eventually regain some of his memory, although his memory of his friends, families, and relatives up to that point was gone. After four years of therapy, Foster was completely freed from his wheelchair. Foster credits the experience with changing his outlook on life, and leading him to dedicate himself as a Christian.
In 1972, as he was first learning to ride a bicycle, Foster saw a news broadcast of U.S. President Richard Nixon meeting with Chairman Mao Zedong atop the Great Wall of China. The sight inspired Foster to bicycle along the Wall from one end to the other, although his letters to both world leaders asking for permission received only a polite brush off from the White House.
Acting career
Foster had begun to act at the age of three, appearing in church and school plays and community theatre. At the age of 16, he began appearing at Connecticut's Southbury Playhouse and other summer stock and dinner theater venues around Connecticut.
In fall 1980, Foster entered the American Academy of Dramatic Arts in New York City. He later trained with Lee Strasberg at Actors Studio; Uta Hagen and Herbert Berghof at HB Studio; and with Stella Adler. He continued stage work in and around New York, working his way up from regional theatre, to "Shakespeare in the Park" with Joseph Papp, to off-Broadway, and finally to Broadway, where he appeared in the Vietnam drama, Go Home, Spec 5. He made his film debut in 1980 as an extra in Friday the 13th Part 2.
During this time, he supplemented his income by giving fencing lessons and writing for various newspapers, as well as writing two unpublished novels and several plays.
China tour plans and delays
In 1985, Foster returned to his dream of cycling the Great Wall of China. His hopes were bolstered by finding that skateboarding was now allowed on the Wall. With the backing of National Geographic and U.S. Senator Chris Dodd, in 1987 Foster received permission from the Chinese government to attempt to become the first person to travel the Wall's 2000 miles by bicycle.
Shortly after receiving permission, Foster was hit by a truck while bicycling, and had to cancel the tour. He attempted to revive the plan the next year, but had difficulty raising the necessary funds. In 1989, a week before Foster was to leave for China, the Tiananmen Square protests broke out. The tour was postponed once again, and several corporations dropped their sponsorship fearing a negative association from the massacre.
World record conquest
With time on his hands from the tour's cancellation, Foster broke the world record for traveling the length of the New York City Subway in October 1989, finishing in a time of 26 hours, 21 minutes, and 8 seconds.
Great Wall of China tour
A month after his world record conquest, Foster flew to China to begin preparations for a Great Wall tour the following spring. The Chinese government would allow Foster to cover some 2000 miles of the Great Wall from the furthest point west at Jiayuguan to the "First Gate Under Heaven" at Shanhaiguan in the east. In exchange, he would promote unity between the U.S. and China. The Chinese government hoped that this would bolster tourism, which had dropped to all-time lows since the events of Tiananmen Square.