Moonlighting. It doesn’t have the bad rap it used to. Today people find ways to make a living and make a life.
Moonlighting is our series about Lehigh alumni who are successful in two areas of their lives where a secondary “job” is primarily fun and fulfilling.
In this edition we meet the former newspaper copy editor and Broadway critic who is also a massage and craniosacral therapist.
Dennis Sprick ’78
Double major in journalism and English/drama
Massage at Lehigh
I excelled as a runner in high school but missed my senior year of track due to an injury that caused severe back and leg pain. When I started at Lehigh, I tried out for the cross country team. The same pain recurred. That’s when Coach John Covert sent me to Jim Mathews, physiotherapist at Lehigh from 1947-78. Two to three times a week, I had physical therapy, which included ultrasound, whirlpool, massage, and stretching.
What a difference it made. I was able to run in the final dual meet my freshman fall against Lafayette in November 1974 and placed seventh. Over the course of my Lehigh career, I routinely met with Mathews as I faced other injuries, including a stress fracture and muscle sprains; I was thankful for Coach Covert’s support during my ups and downs.
I continued to run cross country, indoor track, and outdoor track, competing with the track team in Bermuda and at the Penn Relays and breaking five minutes a mile for the 10K on the track as I finished fourth in the league championship my senior year in May 1978 – the same week I was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa, the national honor society.
After Lehigh, I had some success as a runner in my 20s and 30s. I took an 11-year break but returned to it and am still running today.
Journalism career
I started as a reporter for The Brown and White my freshman fall and then reviewed campus productions for the newspaper during my remaining seven semesters. I took a course in copy editing with Professor Bob Sullivan my sophomore fall and also began to work at the paper’s copy editing desk, becoming copy desk chief my senior year. That skill is what landed me my first job as a copy editor at a small paper, The Daily Advance, in Dover, N.J, in May 1978. Two years later, I moved to a bigger paper, The Times Herald-Record, in Middletown, New York. At both papers I did community play reviews in addition to copy editing.
In 1986, the The Times Herald-Record Sunday editor appointed me to the Broadway critic’s job. Two years later, I also became the newspaper’s sole film critic — all the while continuing to do some entertainment-section copy editing. From 1986-97, I reviewed up to 40-50 plays and 200 films per year.
In 1998, I returned full time to the copy desk. Although I was sad to lose that aspect of my journalistic life as a critic, I had more set hours, which allowed me to grow my massage therapy practice. In 2013, after 35 1/2 years in the newspaper business, I took my pension early and retired.
Massage therapy license
In the early 1990s, I once again needed massage on my back and legs. That’s when I had the clear thought that I’d like to bring this comfort and healing to others. There is a power in massage. When on the massage table, I zone out and forget where I am. It is a blissful feeling.
In 1997, while working my full-time newspaper job, I became a part-time student and went to class two to three times a week at a massage school in New Jersey. I graduated with my massage therapy certification in 1998. I began to offer massage to clients, and for 15 years, I balanced both careers. When I retired from the paper, I began to offer massage full time. I am now in my tenth year as a full-time massage therapist, 26 years total and counting.
Running a business
My business is called The Heartful Touch. It is a play on the words “artful touch.” I opened my current office in Bradley Beach, New Jersey, in 2017. I enjoy the business minutiae such as end-of-year statements, monthly financials, and progress tracking. I enjoy being my own boss and setting my own hours. I really like helping others.
The warmth and experience instilled in my hands when combined with a relaxing space are truly healing. The smell of essential oils, sound of soft guitar music, a dimly lit room — it all enwraps patients. I really take my time with them and provide the one-on-one attention each deserves.
Adding craniosacral therapy
I also offer craniosacral therapy (CST), a light-touch therapy, developed by Dr. John Upledger in the 1970s, that encourages the cerebrospinal fluid to return to its natural rhythm and help the body return to homeostasis. My chiropractor first did CST on me in the mid-1990s, and its effect on me was profound. When she told me that I could take courses in CST once I had earned a touch-therapy degree, it was the final impetus for me to attend massage school. At the very least, CST is deeply relaxing; I love feeling clients melt into the table and even fall asleep. It also can help clients deal with headaches, backaches, stuck emotions, and other conditions.
Connections between careers
My work is not as opposite as some may think. With copy editing, I infuse words and the flow of words and stories with energy. With massage, I infuse the body with a flow of energy.
Beyond work
I still run, swim, bowl, stretch, and ride my bike. I am active in the New York City Gay Men’s Chorus (NYCGMC). This is my twelfth year singing with the group, which is a world-renowned, 250-voice activist organization founded in 1980. I am a baritone. The group offers seven concerts a year and many outreach gigs. After my career as a Broadway critic, it is amazing to perform on some of those same stages. During my tenure with NYCGMC, we have performed with Chita Rivera and with Alan Cumming at Carnegie Hall and in events honoring Bernadette Peters and Ian McKellen. Seeing and hearing the reactions from an audience is thrilling and gratifying.
Visit The Heartful Touch to learn more.
