Juan's memoir, Stories I Tell Myself: Growing Up with Hunter S. Thompson, published on January 5, aims to correct skewed public perceptions of a man whose life was often obscured by his outrageous behavior.
Juan insists that there was a side to his father beyond the wild and entertaining tales - a loving father and grandfather whose influence he feels to this day.
He told Daily Mail Online: 'The biggest misconception is that Hunter was a party animal, that what he was about was getting f***** up on whatever and just having a good time and flouting societal rules, not for any real purpose beyond breaking the rules.
'That's not at all what he was about. I've asked a lot of people why he was important to them and many of them have read his books, and have what I would consider, a proper appreciation for what he was doing.
'But I think there's a lot of people who don't know that much about him and they see this caricature which he helped to create.
'This image of him as a clown - an interesting clown - but a clown.'
Juan, now 51, had a complex relationship with his father – a man who he describes in turn as 'an alcoholic and drug fiend, a wild, angry, passionate, sometimes dangerous, charismatic, unpredictable, irresponsible, idealistic, sensitive man with a powerful and deeply rooted sense of justice'.
