I grew up surrounded by family, faith, and traditions that taught me the value of responsibility early in life. My path later led me to America, where hard work, love, loss, and second chances shaped the man I became. From Cedar Roots to Stars and Stripes preserves the people, places, and choices behind that journey.
MEET MIKE SALLOUM
Mike Salloum was born into a Lebanese and Armenian family and raised between Kabelias, Anjar, and Beirut. He learned English at the American Library, arrived in the United States in 1972 with one suitcase, and accepted whatever honest work helped him move forward, from construction and pizza shifts to airline operations and restaurant leadership. Over the years, he built businesses, trained employees, recovered from difficult setbacks, and remained guided by the family values he carried from Lebanon. He is a husband, father, mentor, and now an author preserving the memories behind the life he built.
Mike Salloum was born into a Lebanese and Armenian family and raised between Kabelias, Anjar, and Beirut. He learned English at the American Library, arrived in the United States in 1972 with one suitcase, and accepted whatever honest work helped him move forward, from construction and pizza shifts to airline operations and restaurant leadership. Over the years, he built businesses, trained employees, recovered from difficult setbacks, and remained guided by the family values he carried from Lebanon. He is a husband, father, mentor, and now an author preserving the memories behind the life he built.
NOW AVAILABLE
LEBANON TO AMERICA
Before Mike Salloum ever set foot in America, a Marine in Beirut had already given him the name he would carry for the rest of his life: Mike. Years later, he arrived in the United States with one suitcase and no certainty about what would come next. From sleeping in his Mustang and working whatever jobs he could find to building a family, leading businesses, enduring painful losses, and returning to Lebanon after more than five decades, these pages follow the turns he never could have planned.
Mike does not clean up the difficult parts to make the past look better. He writes about the people who stood beside him, the mistakes that cost him, the brothers he could not bring back, and the unexpected chances that appeared when one chapter seemed finished. What began as something he wanted his sons to have became a book about how a life can make very little sense while you are living it, and look completely different when you finally turn around and see where it led.
NOW AVAILABLE
Mike’s story feels personal without trying too hard to impress. The memories of his father, the Marine in Beirut, and his first years in America make the book feel close and real.”
“Salloum is strongest when he lets memory do the work. The book moves through migration, grief, family, and business without losing the quiet voice of the man looking back.”
“I expected a story about coming to America. What I found was also a story about everything a person carries with him: family habits, old losses, faith, and the courage to begin again.”
MIKE’S BLOG
November 12, 2024
Before I ever came to America, a Marine in Beirut knelt beside me, gave me a KitKat, and called me Mike. I was a child then, but that small moment stayed with me.
October 28, 2024
I would replay the same line, write down what I thought I heard, and check the words in a dictionary. It took patience, but that is how English slowly became part of my life.
September 15, 2024
I bought the Mustang for independence, but for five nights it became the only place I had to sleep. Those nights taught me what starting over really looked like.
