By the time you finish reading “Driving Dad Home,” you will have experienced a wide range of emotions, from laughter to sympathy for author John Halter, who had the unenviable task of driving Russ, his 96-year-old father, from his trailer park in Phoenix to a memory-care facility in La Crosse, Wis.

Russ Halter is a complicated man, loving his children and first wife but with a volatile temper. Russ and son John had a rocky relationship beginning with John’s teen years, when he was always mad at his dad and his dad was mad at him. Yet, Russ later called his son every Sunday night to complain about his second wife, a bedridden alcoholic dying of kidney disease. John and his siblings knew it was time to bring their dad back to the Midwest

With the help of a social worker they mapped out an elaborate plan for getting their stubborn father into the car for the three-day drive to La Crosse. The early chapters read like a novel as John tries to coax his dad into the car. Sometimes Russ knows where he is and refuses to “go home,” but sometimes he forgets or is frightened. Finally, after some angry cane-waving, Russ is persuaded to say goodbye to his troublesome wife, who gives him permission to leave the trailer park where he has been happy for years.

As John gets the feel of driving a car with a trailer attached, he realizes his dad’s moods will vary. When Russ gets too angry or confused, John gets him talking about topics he loves, which make up some chapters. Russ tells of his World War II experiences on an aircraft carrier during the times when Japanese suicide pilots were bombing Allied ships, his courtship of John’s strong-minded mother who never became a Catholic but participated in all parish activities, and the family’s life on Pleasant Avenue in Minneapolis and later in St. Louis Park. John was surprised to hear his dad admit he never liked his job as a heavy equipment salesman, which kept him on the road three or four days a week.

As the miles fly by, Russ’ behavior is sometimes funny, as anyone who has cared for someone with dementia knows. He forgets social boundaries and makes inappropriate remarks about waitress’s breasts. He rarely sleeps, waking John in the middle of the night in a panic when he realizes he’s out of the Poly-Grip that holds his false teeth in. Little things grow into big things with dementia, and John is forced to be on the road before dawn so they can find the missing adhesive. There are touching incidents, too, as when Russ urinates in the car and is clear-minded enough to be ashamed. In a motel bathroom, John sadly looks at his father’s skinny, hairless, bony body, so different from his strong physique as a young man.

They have happy times, too, such as seeing cows grazing on a hillside that remind Russ of his youth on a South Dakota farm. But a drive over a thousand miles long, in the company of a touchy old man who goes in and out of memories, is hard on sleep-deprived John. Sometimes driving and trying to keep ahead of his father’s ever-changing moods exhausts him and he’s ashamed to lose his temper and treat his father like a child. In one scary incident, John is trying to maneuver the car through a dangerous construction site just as his dad is about to go into a “sundowner” temper tantrum.

By the time John pulls into the driveway of his brother Mark’s farm in La Crosse, he is beyond exhausted but also happy that he and his dad mostly sorted out their uneasy relationship.

Russ Halter eventually settled into his new home in the memory facility, becoming known as “the charmer.” He lived to celebrate his 98th birthday surrounded by kids, grandkids and great-grands.

John Halter, a graduate of De La Salle high school, has been a sailor, marine mechanic, and pilot on the excursion riverboats out of St. Paul. What isn’t on his résumé is his marvelous writing ability. So many of us are dealing with mentally declining loved ones, and Halter’s tender memoir shows we are not alone. A special shout-out to Nodin Press ($19.95) for publishing “Driving Dad Home.”

Halter will discuss his book at 4 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 11, at Hepcat Coffee, 370 N. Wabasha St., St. Paul, presented by SubText Books.