Some may view Hunter S. Thompson's maverick funeral later this month as a mix of circus sideshow and celebrity hoo-hah.

But for Juan Thompson, the Aug. 20 event remains his father's funeral.

"This is an unusual way to have your ashes spread, and it's a large gathering because (my father) knew a lot of people," his only son said, referring to the use of a 153-foot "cannon" to scatter the writer's ashes and the some 300 invited guests. "But what it comes down to is this is saying goodbye to my dad's ashes."

"This is the last time that all of his friends are going to be getting together to say goodbye to him — and that does not mean it's all going to be weeping and gnashing of teeth, but it's going to be sad because from here on out, we're going to have to come to terms in our own way with the fact that he's gone."

The Thompson family often talks of their ongoing grief since the writer's Feb. 20 suicide at the age of 67.

"The pain will always be there missing him," said his widow, Anita Thompson. "It's like the sun not coming up."

While the cannon will spread Hunter Thompson's ashes across the sky, Juan Thompson says friends and family also will be discussing the Hunter S. Thompson Foundation meant to assist writers and clarify the legacy of the man considered the model for crazy Uncle Duke in the Doonesbury comic strip.

"He is not Duke in Doonesbury. He's not a cartoon character. He's not a drug-addled guy wandering around Las Vegas," Juan Thompson said. "Primarily, he's a serious guy, a writer, and someone concerned about the Constitution."

Juan Thompson's wife, Jennifer, said her 7-year-old son, Will, who called his grandfather "Ace," drove home the emotional import of the cannon blast:

"In the spring, after Ace goes underground, maybe he'll come up as small gonzo symbols and big gonzo symbols."