Rif K. Haffar

Background

Rif K. Haffar was born on August 14, 1955, in Damascus, Syria. He is the son of Kamal and Najwa (Shahine) Haffar.

Education

Rif Haffar received his early education in the Middle East, Greece, and England before immigrating to the United States in 1978 and earning a Master of Business Administration degree from Portland State University in 1990.

Career

Rif Haffar began his career in telecommunications. He joined Electric Lightwave in 1991 as director of sales and operations, the position he held till 1994. Then he went to GST Telecommunications where he worked as vice president for operations in 1994-1995. In 1996 he became senior vice president for engineering and network operations for WinStar Telecom at Winstar Communications (now defunct). He left WinStar in 2000 to began working as executive vice president for marketing and business development at Lexent Inc., but a management shakeup forced him to take early retirement in 2001.

He decided to use his free time by taking a round-the-world motorcycle trip. After his journey, he began writing a book. Away From My Desk: A Round-the-World Detour from the Rat Race, the Tech Wreck, and the Traffic Jam of Life in America was published in 2002.

In this sometimes funny, often sarcastic account of an unusual trip around the world, Haffar treats readers to a whirlwind tour of forty-five countries spanning six continents. In his work, Haffar describes his journey where he explores not only the well-known landmarks of each city but also the less obvious but often more pleasing haunts of the local gentry. His comments on these sites and the people who guard them are at times biting and provocative and at other times almost wistful. This book is an adventure guide as much as a travelog, and as such, it succeeds quite well in entertaining while informing. Combining contemporary and historical perspectives, Rif provides a sparkling view of the world, warts and all.

Haffar was also engaged in an acting career for some time. Inspired by that period, he wrote the book, Roadmap to Stardom: How to Break into Acting in Hollywood, in which he gives sensible advice and imparts relevant information on all areas and steps the beginning actor will face. Frequent insets of quotes by Hollywood insiders and of show business facts work with the text to give the reader a good idea of what the business is really like. The value of his book is that it describes the acting workplace, tells the young, beginning actor how to get a foot in the door of the business and prepares the reader to make important decisions that come up during the early stages of a career.

Achievements

• Rif Haffar built up a successful career as a telecommunications executive but he gained prominence particularly as an author. His two published books, "Away From My Desk: A Round-the-World Detour from the Rat Race, the Tech Wreck, and the Traffic Jam of Life in America" and "Roadmap to Stardom: How to Break into Acting in Hollywood," received very positive reviews and wide acclaim among readers.

Works

More photos

• book

  • Roadmap to Stardom: How to Break into Acting in Hollywood

    (True confessions from an honest-to-goodness working actor...)

    2006
  • Away From My Desk: A Round-the-World Detour from the Rat Race, the Tech Wreck, and the Traffic Jam of Life in America

    (Traveling mainly by motorcycle, the author traverses fort...)

    2002

Membership

Rif Haffar is a member of the North American Travel Journalists Association and Publishers Marketing Association.

Personality

Rif Haffar speaks four languages. He traveled to nearly one hundred countries on six continents.

Interests

• motorcycling, travel

• Sport & Clubs

  soccer

Connections

Father:

Kamal Haffar

Mother:

Najwa Haffar